As an addendum to the suit, SpectiCast attached a purported performance agreement between Drake and concert promoter Serious Entertainment, granting the company “the right to make and own the video and audio recordings of the concert and to exploit them for profit.” The company claims that Drake had “granted all rights in the recordings of the Homecoming concert” to Serious and that he had approved the film’s trailer and viewed the film “without complaint” last December.
Drake’s disapproval of the film, says SpectiCast, was “perfectly timed to inflict maximum damage on ticket sales and maximum damage to SpectiCast’s reputation,” adding that it presented “direct economic harm.”
Earlier this week, Mark Berry, the film’s co-executive producer, told Rolling Stone, “It’s a money issue, but it’s also an issue where Drake lost control of this project a long, long time ago. We resurrected it. We developed the interest and put the partners together. He doesn’t have any control over it, so it’s a bit of a ‘sour grapes’ scenario.”
Haviland said in a statement that the company is seeking “substantial damages,” though the company would not disclose a specific number. “We really have to evaluate the extent of the damages,” Haviland tells Rolling Stone, claiming that ticket sales were lower than anticipated and select theaters refused to show the film. A spokesperson for Fathom Events, the company assisting in screening the film, was not immediately available for comment to confirm this claim.
“We’re obviously looking for some correction from Drake about the implication that this is an unauthorized release,” Haviland says. “We’re going to do what we can to ensure distributors of the facts, which was that this was a movie that was approved and that we fully have rights to, and any implications to the contrary is just wrong.”