Schaefer/Karpf Productions v. CNA Ins. Companies

64 Cal. App. 4th 1306
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 18, 1998
DocketB109989
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 64 Cal. App. 4th 1306 (Schaefer/Karpf Productions v. CNA Ins. Companies) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Schaefer/Karpf Productions v. CNA Ins. Companies, 64 Cal. App. 4th 1306 (Cal. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

64 Cal.App.4th 1306 (1998)

SCHAEFER/KARPF PRODUCTIONS, Plaintiff and Appellant,
v.
CNA INSURANCE COMPANIES et al., Defendants and Respondents.

Docket No. B109989.

Court of Appeals of California, Second District, Division Seven.

June 18, 1998.

*1309 COUNSEL

Jason A. Forge for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Hawkins, Schnabel, Lindahl & Beck, Timothy A. Gonzalez and Brian J. Gladstone for Defendants and Respondents.

[Opinion certified for partial publication.[*]]

OPINION

JOHNSON, J.

Plaintiff Schaefer/Karpf Productions (Schaefer) appeals from the judgment in favor of defendant CNA Insurance Companies (CNA) *1310 determining Schaefer did not suffer "property damage" within the terms of the comprehensive general liability policies CNA issued to its insureds. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

Schaefer produced a television special for children entitled The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. After the show was aired on network television it was released on videotape for sales to schools, religious and civic organizations and the general public.

In 1992, Scholastic, Inc., a leading marketer of children's educational materials, ordered 32,500 videotapes of the The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Schaefer contracted with The Video Company (TVC) to duplicate the show onto videotapes. TVC duplicated the show on tapes it purchased from the Matrix Video Duplication Corporation (Matrix). Some of the tapes Matrix sold to TVC were used tapes returned to Matrix by Cinderella Distributors, Inc., a distributor of pornographic films. TVC proceeded to produce the 32,500 videotapes of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever on the stock provided by Matrix and shipped the tapes to Scholastic. Scholastic in turn sold approximately 25,000 tapes of the show before Christmas 1992.

A few days before Christmas 1992, in Salt Lake City, Ms. Natay's fourth graders were enjoying a Christmas party in their classroom. As part of the festivities, Ms. Natay showed the children a videotape of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever which she had obtained from Scholastic. Because she was trying to serve refreshments to 38 nine-year olds and things were "chaotic," Ms. Natay did not stop and rewind the tape when the program ended. "All of a sudden the class got quiet" and "the kids were nudging each other." When she looked up Ms. Natay saw to her shock her students were watching a graphically explicit scene in which a couple was engaged in sexual intercourse. Students and teachers had similar experiences at the Moline Christian School in Moline, Michigan, the second grade at Rocky Branch School in Walland, Tennessee, and the Manchester Elementary School in Perry, Ohio, to name a few. In Philadelphia, Mississippi, Ms. Cheeks left to run an errand while her young children remained at home watching The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. When she returned she was "horrified" to find her children were watching not a Christmas movie but "a hard-core pornography scene" in which a couple was engaged in oral sex. The sexually explicit material at the end of the videotapes was seen by other children across America that Christmas, giving a new meaning to the term "kiddie-porn."

While the students who watched the videotape may have been confused by this Best Christmas Pageant Ever, parents, teachers and principals were not. *1311 Nor were they amused. Scholastic recalled all the videotapes of the show and refused to pay Schaefer.

Schaefer brought an action against TVC and Matrix for breach of contract, negligence and breach of warranty seeking damages for lost profits and loss of goodwill (the underlying action). Both companies were insured by CNA under standard comprehensive general liability (CGL) policies. Both companies tendered defense of Schaefer's action to CNA. CNA disclaimed any obligation to defend or indemnify the companies on the ground Schaefer's claims were not covered by the policies.

TVC did not defend the underlying action. Matrix retained counsel and provided its own defense.

Prior to trial, Schaefer and Matrix entered into an agreement which provided in pertinent part: (1) Matrix would not contest liability but the trier of fact would make its own determination as to liability and damages based upon the evidence introduced at trial; (2) Schaefer would not execute on the assets of Matrix to satisfy any judgment against it resulting from the trial; (3) Matrix assigned to Schaefer its rights, claims and entitlements to indemnity from CNA relating to Schaefer's claims and Matrix's claims for bad faith and all other tort and contract claims against CNA.

The underlying action was tried to the court which awarded Schaefer a judgment in the sum of $1 million against Matrix and TVC "as the measure of damages resulting from physical injury to or the loss of use of tangible property," the videotapes of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

Thereafter, Schaefer commenced the present action against CNA to enforce its judgment against Matrix and TVC under Insurance Code section 11580 and to enforce Matrix's claims for fraud and breach of contract.

Schaefer and CNA filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The trial court granted CNA's motion on the grounds CNA was not a party to the underlying action therefore it was not bound by the trial court's finding in that action Schaefer suffered "property damage" and, further, any damage to the videotapes of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever resulting from the inclusion of the pornographic material was not "property damage" as the term is defined in the CNA policies. A judgment in favor of CNA was entered in due course and Schaefer filed a timely appeal.

The two principal issues on appeal are (1) whether the incorporation of a defective or harmful product into the product of another causes "physical *1312 injury" within the meaning of property damage coverage in the standard comprehensive general liability policy[1] and (2) if so, whether Schaefer suffered physical injury to "tangible property" as the result of the linkage of a pornographic movie to its production The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. We reach those issues after resolving some preliminary matters.

DISCUSSION

I. In This Case, the Duty to Defend and the Duty to Indemnify Are the Same.

(1) The ultimate question in this case is whether Schaefer's injury was covered under the policies CNA issued to Matrix and TVC. If it was, then Schaefer can recover from CNA on its judgment against Matrix and TVC as well as on Matrix's assigned claim against CNA for breach of the duty to defend. If Schaefer's injury was not covered under the policies it can recover nothing from CNA. This is not a case in which Schaefer could lose on the issue of CNA's duty to indemnify Schaefer for its losses but win on the issue of CNA's broader duty to defend Matrix. Although as a general rule CNA owed a duty to defend Matrix against claims which contained even a potential for indemnity (Montrose Chemical Corp. v. Superior Court (1993) 6 Cal.4th 287, 295 [24 Cal. Rptr.2d 467, 861 P.2d 1153]), this duty does not apply to claims where the only potential for indemnity turns on a question of policy interpretation. (Waller v. Truck Ins. Exchange, Inc. (1995) 11 Cal.4th 1, 25-26 [44 Cal. Rptr.2d 370, 900 P.2d 619];

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
64 Cal. App. 4th 1306, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schaeferkarpf-productions-v-cna-ins-companies-calctapp-1998.