Estate Of Radio Host Paul Harvey Sues Paramount Global Over ‘Landman’ Voiceover
Estate Of Radio Host Paul Harvey Sues Paramount Global Over ‘Landman’ Voiceover
According to the estate, Paramount misused a 90 second segment from a Harvey monologue on rising gas prices in the opening segment of a ‘Landman’ episode.
Radio host Paul Harvey’s estate has sued Paramount Global in a New York federal court for allegedly featuring a segment from his longtime programme ‘The Rest of the Story’ in the Paramount television show ‘Landman’ without permission.
According to the estate, Paramount misused a 90 second segment from a Harvey monologue on rising gas prices in the opening segment of a ‘Landman’ episode. Further according to the estate, ‘Landman’ makers edited Harvey’s monologue to make it seem to support the oil industry even though the full segment criticised the government’s fossil fuel policies and endorsed alternative fuels.
Paramount’s spokespersons did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the complaint. Harvey’s estate’s lead attorney Jaime Wolf of Pelosi Wolf Spates said that ‘Landman’ producers “had no right to falsify the late Harvey’s message and turn him into an unwitting shill for big oil”. The estate's lead attorney Jaime Wolf of Pelosi Wolf Spates said the producers of "Landman" "had no right to falsify the late Mr. Harvey's message and turn him into an unwitting shill for big oil."
Harvey, who passed away in 2009, was a fixture in American radio. His signature programme, ‘The Rest of the Story’ aired from 1976 to 2008. Paramount’s ‘Landman’ is a drama set in the oil fields of West Texas produced by Taylor Sheridan of ‘Yellowstone’ fame. As per the complaint, the show’s 10th episode opens with a recording of Harvey’s 2008 segment ‘Gas Crisis’ in which he said that gas prices are “deliberately manipulated by governments and certain corporations to advance broader agendas”. The estate’s lawyers tried to contact Paramount in March but never got a response. The estate has asked the court for an unspecified amount of copyright infringement damages.
