*** Warning! Warning! Danger Will Robinson! Accounting lingo ahead! ***
So I was reading the settlement terms between Esquire and WFB when I found this:
1. Payments by Hearst. Within 15 days of the execution of this Settlement Agreement by Mr. Buckley, Hearst will pay the sum of $55,000 to Mr. Buckley's counsel, Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, and will pay the sum of $10,000 to Mr. Buckley.
My first thought was, "Buckley's going to pay more in taxes than he's getting from the settlement."
I won't bore you with the details of why this is so, but trust me, it's messy.
What's amusing about the story is this statement:
Present management was not aware of the history of this litigation, and greatly regrets the re-publication of the libels in the current collection.
Back in 1969 they'd published a rant by Gore Vidal that resulted in a lawsuit filed by Buckley. Forgetting that bit of their own history, they'd allowed the article to be republished in a 2003 book.
Their blunder reminds me of a Seattle-area libel I heard about in a media law class. A newspaper had intended to honor a local woman who was active in public affairs. Unfortunately, although they had intended to say that she'd worked for years as a "social worker," someone goofed and typed "street walker" instead. Needless to say the paper issued a very prompt retraction and settled out of court.
Posted by: Mike Perry | Tuesday, December 14, 2004 at 07:51 PM