Mary Asher V Dream Works Pictures

Mary Asher v Dream Works Pictures

ISSUE: The issue to be considered in the case that Mary Asher will bring against Dream Works Pictures is whether or not there is a valid contract between the parties. Mary met Mr. Shifty, the Vice President of Production for Dream Works Pictures and advised him that she had a movie synopsis for sale. Mr. Shifty provided Mary his business card for her to send the synopsis to him. Mary sent the synopsis and about a year afterwards, saw a preview for the movie, of which her synopsis was the basis.

RULE: There are six elements that an agreement must contain, in order for the contract to be considered valid. First, the agreement must have an offer as well as an acceptance of that offer. The offer must specify that the party making the offer planned to enter into a contract with the other party. Second, the contract must have consideration of value for the exchange between the parties. Third, the parties to the contract must have the capacity to enter into a legal agreement. Fourth, the contract must have a legal purpose and agreed to by both parties. Fifth, the contract must have genuine assent. Finally, the sixth element of a valid contract is that it should preferably be written.

APPLICATION: Upon examination of whether there was an offer and an acceptance of that offer, it is determined that an offer was made by Mary Asher. Mary made it clear to Mr. Shifty, a representative of Dream Works, that she had a synopsis of a story for sale and wanted to earn enough from that sale to pay her last three years of college. Mr. Shifty accepted the offer by stating that if Mary sent in any synopsis, he would accept it. One could apply the common law decision made in the case of Desny v Wilder, in which the courts decided Desny’s case should be heard again because the appellate court believed that contract law may be applied in this case. Desny v Wilder is similar to Mary Asher’s case because Desny verbally attempted to sell his...