The Lawsuit Between WWE & Martha Hart

[WWTNA]

Here is the latest on the lawsuit between WWE and Martha Hart. World Wrestling Entertainment and representatives for Martha Hart and the Owen Hart Foundation met back on December 3rd in order to negotiate a settlement in their ongoing lawsuit. The two sides were unable to reach an agreement during their meeting.

Marth Hart is claiming that WWE violated their original 2000 Settlement Agreement in the wake of Owen Hart's death, that WWE violated the family's privacy with the release of Owen Hart matches and the Hart & Soul DVD documentary. She further claims that WWE intimates the Owen Hart Foundation endorses their company with the release of Hart's matches and that the rights to Owen's footage reverted back to his estate upon his death.

As previously reported, WWE responded to the initial claim with over 100 pages of documents.

I didn't even know that it is still going on but oh well. Not to sound harsh but it seems to me that Martha is trying to make a quick buck off of Owen TBH.

What do you guys think about this?

 

[MrHashasheen]

I think she's look for as many excuses, chances and opportunities to file lawsuits. Not out of greed, but because she wants as many opportunities as possible to bleed the company dry, to hurt Vince's bottom-line in what she sees as payback.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

I think her husband died while performing a stunt for the WWE. She should go after every penny she can get.

 

[UltimateHitman]

I understand her bitterness towards Vince and the WWE, but that being said, I do believe it is a form of revenge/payback. Not saying it isn't justified, just that I'm sure that's what it is. Who wouldn't be pissed at the people that caused such a heinous atrocity. You would've thought that with all the money Vince was raking in he could've sprung for a much safer, higher end rigging system. But I do think that the release of the Hart and Soul DVD plus release/showing of his matches would be something that would only help to continue Owen's legacy and keep his memory alive in the hearts of the fans so I don't know why it would be a problem from that basic standpoint.

 

[Phoenix]

It's really down to which stance you see this from, from Martha's perspective, she feels that the WWE are still exploiting Owen's name and she's trying to keep a distance from the company but naturally this is hard when Owen is seen as a legend and naturally being related to Bret who mentioned Owen on screen still, it can't be avoided.

However, on the WWE side, they actually haven't done wrong, all they have done is use the footage they own and photographs provided by other Hart family members. Now this isn't exploitation because Owen signed a contract so his footage could be re-used but as said WWE has not made anything new around Owen. No T-Shirts or appearances in Smackdown vs. Raw, etc.

WWE has actually kept ground but naturally the re-use of footage is what Martha is aiming at and to be honest, there are other Hart family members who are willing to share the memories of Owen, she doesn't have exclusive right to his name because she is his wife. WWE has done what they can to compensate against Owen's death, which naturally will never be enough, but Owen has a legacy and in the end, it's being respected by the WWE and Martha doesn't want to be connected to it.