Donahue v. Ziv Television Programs, Inc.

After a jury had awarded plaintiffs a verdict in the sum of $250,000, the exact amount of their prayer, the trial court granted defendants’ motions for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict and for a new trial. The latter order was based on the insufficiency of the evidence. Plaintiffs appealed from the judgment and the order. Defendants cross-appealed. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3(a).)

The theory of plaintiffs’ case was this: before and during the year 1955 they conceived an idea for a television format which they entitled “The Underwater Legion.” Sometime in 1955 they submitted the format…