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http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/7/30/204814.shtml?s=en
Goldman Family Gets Rights to O.J. Book
NewsMax.com Wires Tuesday, July 31, 2007
MIAMI -- Rights to O.J. Simpson's book "If I Did It," a hypothetical account
of how he could have killed his ex-wife, on Monday passed to relatives of
Ron Goldman, who was murdered along with Nicole Brown Simpson in 1994.
A federal judge approved the relatives' settlement with a court-appointed
bankruptcy trustee, giving them the rights to the book. Plans for its
publication last year prompted a torrent of outrage.
Lawyers for the Goldmans said they would seek to capitalize on the book by
arranging new publishing, film or TV deals to help satisfy a $33.5 million
wrongful death judgment won by the family against Simpson in 1997.
The book was billed as a hypothetical account of how the former football
star, acquitted of murder charges in 1995 but found responsible in a later
civil case, could have carried out the slayings of Nicole and her friend,
Goldman.
News Corp.-owned publishing house, HarperCollins, scrapped the book in
November before its planned release.
Goldman's father, Fred Goldman, originally joined in condemning "If I Did
It" as the shameful exploitation of his son's murder but has since waged a
campaign to collect any money generated by the book. He said he now views
the book as "an indictment of a wife-beater, of a murderer, written in his
own words."
Simpson was acquitted of criminal charges at the end of a sensational murder
trial in 1995 but was found liable for the deaths of his ex-wife and Goldman
two years later in a civil case brought by the victims' families. He has
vowed to never voluntarily pay the damages rendered against him.
FIRST SIGN OF JUSTICE
Fred Goldman wept and held the hand of his daughter, Kim Goldman, during
Monday's hearing. "After 13 years of trying to get some justice for Ron,
today's the first time that we had any sense of seeing some light at the end
of the tunnel," he said afterward.
Earlier this year, a California judge ordered rights to his book put up for
public bidding to benefit the Goldmans' claims.
The auction was canceled in April when Lorraine Brooke Associates, a company
set up in the name of Simpson's children to collect his reported $1 million
book advance, declared bankruptcy in Miami.
However, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jay Cristol ruled in June that Lorraine
Brooke Associates was a shell company formed to conceal Simpson's book
earnings from the Goldmans, paving the way for them to pursue their claim.
Under the settlement hammered out by lawyers earlier this month and approved
by Cristol on Monday, the Goldmans obtained all rights to the book, and to
Simpson's name and likeness in connection with it.
Those rights will now be held in the name of Ron Goldman LLC, a new entity
that "will market the book under the true crime genre," family lawyer David
Cook told Reuters.
Cook said he had received several inquiries about the book from literary
agents in recent weeks, and the Goldmans were considering changing the title
to "I Did It," or possibly "Confessions of a Double Murderer."
Relatives of Simpson's ex-wife, who had not previously pursued a claim to
his book, made an 11th-hour request for up to 40 percent of the proceeds but
the judge denied their plea.
However Monday's agreement requires the Goldmans to give a court-appointed
trustee 10 percent of the first $4 million in gross proceeds and a
percentage of all proceeds beyond that. The Brown family will get most of
that money.
Goldman Family Gets Rights to O.J. Book
NewsMax.com Wires Tuesday, July 31, 2007
MIAMI -- Rights to O.J. Simpson's book "If I Did It," a hypothetical account
of how he could have killed his ex-wife, on Monday passed to relatives of
Ron Goldman, who was murdered along with Nicole Brown Simpson in 1994.
A federal judge approved the relatives' settlement with a court-appointed
bankruptcy trustee, giving them the rights to the book. Plans for its
publication last year prompted a torrent of outrage.
Lawyers for the Goldmans said they would seek to capitalize on the book by
arranging new publishing, film or TV deals to help satisfy a $33.5 million
wrongful death judgment won by the family against Simpson in 1997.
The book was billed as a hypothetical account of how the former football
star, acquitted of murder charges in 1995 but found responsible in a later
civil case, could have carried out the slayings of Nicole and her friend,
Goldman.
News Corp.-owned publishing house, HarperCollins, scrapped the book in
November before its planned release.
Goldman's father, Fred Goldman, originally joined in condemning "If I Did
It" as the shameful exploitation of his son's murder but has since waged a
campaign to collect any money generated by the book. He said he now views
the book as "an indictment of a wife-beater, of a murderer, written in his
own words."
Simpson was acquitted of criminal charges at the end of a sensational murder
trial in 1995 but was found liable for the deaths of his ex-wife and Goldman
two years later in a civil case brought by the victims' families. He has
vowed to never voluntarily pay the damages rendered against him.
FIRST SIGN OF JUSTICE
Fred Goldman wept and held the hand of his daughter, Kim Goldman, during
Monday's hearing. "After 13 years of trying to get some justice for Ron,
today's the first time that we had any sense of seeing some light at the end
of the tunnel," he said afterward.
Earlier this year, a California judge ordered rights to his book put up for
public bidding to benefit the Goldmans' claims.
The auction was canceled in April when Lorraine Brooke Associates, a company
set up in the name of Simpson's children to collect his reported $1 million
book advance, declared bankruptcy in Miami.
However, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jay Cristol ruled in June that Lorraine
Brooke Associates was a shell company formed to conceal Simpson's book
earnings from the Goldmans, paving the way for them to pursue their claim.
Under the settlement hammered out by lawyers earlier this month and approved
by Cristol on Monday, the Goldmans obtained all rights to the book, and to
Simpson's name and likeness in connection with it.
Those rights will now be held in the name of Ron Goldman LLC, a new entity
that "will market the book under the true crime genre," family lawyer David
Cook told Reuters.
Cook said he had received several inquiries about the book from literary
agents in recent weeks, and the Goldmans were considering changing the title
to "I Did It," or possibly "Confessions of a Double Murderer."
Relatives of Simpson's ex-wife, who had not previously pursued a claim to
his book, made an 11th-hour request for up to 40 percent of the proceeds but
the judge denied their plea.
However Monday's agreement requires the Goldmans to give a court-appointed
trustee 10 percent of the first $4 million in gross proceeds and a
percentage of all proceeds beyond that. The Brown family will get most of
that money.
