Scarlett Johansson v. Disney

While the media may have decided that Disney have lost their battle against Scarlett Johansson, the legal question surrounding the issue is extremely important.

Johansson, who has starred in 9 Marvel movies over her decade acting as Black Widow, claims that the Walt Disney Co. breached her contract last month, when the Black Widow movie was released in theatres and on Disney+. She argues that because her compensation depends largely on how well the film performs at the box office, with the at home release reducing her earnings. There is a fundamental issue that constantly arises in discourse surrounding the lawsuit. Compensation is contingent on a future event, a ‘trigger’: closing a deal, hitting a sales target, or selling a certain number of copies of an album, or a book. The question that stands therefore, is whether the party that is making a payment is obliged to allow the triggering…