While Selena fans in California may be looking forward to the planned television series about her love story with her husband, they may not get to ever see the show. Abraham Quintanilla, the late singer’s father, has filed a lawsuit against Selena’s widower and the television production company that is working on the show.
According to reports, Chris Perez, Selena’s widower, signed a contract two months after she was killed in 1995. Under the contract, Perez reportedly agreed to not use Selena’s name, likeness or story without receiving prior authorization to do so from her estate. In exchange, he was to receive 25 percent of the profits that were made by the estate in using her likeness and name.
In 2012, Perez wrote a book about his romance with Selena. Under the terms of the contract, the book would have also been in violation. Quintanilla did not name the book’s publishing company as a defendant in the lawsuit, however. When asked why he did not, he refused to answer. The lawsuit seeks to halt all production on the series, which is based on the book that Perez wrote.
Contract disputes sometimes arise between the parties who contracted with each other. When they do, the alleged breaches may be major or minor. Minor breaches are usually able to be resolved short of going through litigation or arbitration. Major breaches may require going to court, however, in order to help the party who has been damaged by the nonperformance or breach so that the party may be made whole.
Source: The Huffington Post, “Why the Selena TV series backed by her widower might never get aired,” Carolina Moreno, Dec. 5, 2016.
