If you are going to advertise a product as being the complete collection of a certain franchise, you better make sure it is actually a complete collection. MGM and FOX are now being sued because a DVD collection advertised as a “complete James Bond collection” is actually missing two films in the franchise to date.
A lawsuit filed in April by Mary Johnson of Washington claims MGM and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment have violated the state’s consumer protection act by selling a James Bond anthology knowingly omitting two films; Casino Royale (1967) and Never Say Never Again (1983). A judge just recently allowed for the lawsuit to continue after initially dismissing certain parts of the lawsuit.
The complete box set was purchased from Amazon in February 2016 at a cost of $106.44. Rather than simply return the item and get a full refund or purchase the two additional films separately, Johnson is taking a stand against what is being alleged as faulty advertising.
“No reasonable person, unless a James Bond expert, would understand that ‘all’ does not mean all, and ‘every’ means only certain films,” the lawyers wrote.
The reason for the two films being left out of the complete (to date) collection is because each of the films previously mentioned are not “canonical” to the series. The 24 films that are canon so far are all produced by Eon Productions and released by MGM. Columbia Pictures released Casino Royale and Warner Bros. released Never Say Never Again instead of MGM and the rest of the Bond Series. MGM has since bought the rights to the two films.
But if a customer plops down over $100 for what they believe to be a full collection, they should probably be correct in expecting they are getting every film they anticipate. Then again, the consumer does carry some responsibility for their shopping and reading what is actually included. But the responsibility of the shopper is not up for debate at this point in time. It is the deceptive advertising of a product that is under fire and worth scrutiny.
Does Johnson have a case to be made here, or do you think MGM and FOX are safe in this legal dispute?
In the meantime, the world is gearing up for at least one more James Bond film in the next few years. That gives MGM and FOX some time to figure out what actually constitutes a complete James Bond collection for the next edition to hit stores. That, or maybe indicate that it’s the complete Eon Productions James Bond collection.
[Variety]
