Former WWE wrestler Rene Goguen (fka Rene Dupree) has voluntarily dismissed his lawsuit against World Wrestling Entertainment. The news comes just days after announcing it filed a class action lawsuit against the company for unpaid royalties related to the WWE Network and Netflix.
Goguen claimed breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment and violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act. The dispute arose out of what Goguen and his attorneys believed were a part of his Booking Contract that he was due royalties for “technology not yet created.”
WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt stated that Goguen signed a contract in 2011 “that destroys his ability to bring these types of claims” according to The Hollywood Reporter. Aside from the contract, THR pointed to a case which states that state-based rights of publicity are trumped by the federal copyright act.
Payout Perspective:
The voluntary dismissal obviously means that Goguen’s attorney realized that they did not have a legal shot at surviving a motion to dismiss. This probably stems from the contract alluded to by McDevitt. It likely was a waiver of claims related to the WWE Network and Netflix. One might infer that when the WWE contemplated the Network, ensuring that all performers under contract pre-network would not be able to claim royalties was a necessity to mitigate these types of claims. The WWE’s lawyers are very aggressive when it comes to legal strategy and one might surmise that the WWE would have sought legal fees from plaintiffs’ attorneys.
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