Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Donald Trump and the $400 Million Dollar Question

The White House rejects claims that a $400 million dollar transaction that took place between the U.S. and Iran is anything more than what it is, a legitimate transaction. In January, the United States delivered $400 million in cash to Iran “a long-standing financial dispute,” according to the White House press secretary Josh Earnest. Earnest spent Wednesday deflecting claims and criticism about the money order from all directions, including news outlets and Donald Trump.

Trump tweeted Wednesday that there was more to the money than met the eye:

Our incompetent Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, was the one who started talks to give 400 million dollars, in cash, to Iran. Scandal!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 3, 2016

Sounds like hot air, right? But it wasn’t until other top Republicans started speaking up that things started to get a little iffy.

Obama administration sent plan load of cash to #Iran as ransom as part of deal on hostages. Just unreal. https://t.co/UHfdK4BEyN

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 3, 2016

Rubio and many others are claiming that the money was a ransom payment for four U.S. soldiers who had been taken hostage in Iran after crossing into its surrounding waters. Earnest says that the money was part of a series of unrelated settlement from a decades-old debt and the release of the hostages just happened to be within the same timeline. Earnest claims that while the scandal rumors “make for a more colorful story,” but that the cash was just a boring debt payment. So opponents of the Iran deal need to shut up.

via GIPHY

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PEA Films, Inc., (PEA) which owns the rights to Hollywood classics “The Good, the Bad and The Ugly,” “For a Few Dollars More,” and “Last Tango in Paris,” filed a lawsuit in late August against Metro-Goldwyn-Meyerm Inc. (MGM) to terminate MGM’s contracts with the three iconic western films. According to PEA’s complaint listed in The Hollywood Reporter, PEA claims that MGM did not give PEA “honest and accurate accounting statements, showing revenue and expenses, together with timely payment of the amounts due to PEA.” In addition to the accounting statements PEA seeks damages in excess of $5 million.

PEA and MGM have had their disagreements before. In the 1990s, PEA sued MGM twice for underpaying PEA, and the parties eventually settled in both lawsuits. The settlements, however, did not end the issue. The parties continued to fight over audit reports in the 2000s, in which MGM delayed its payments to PEA. The Hollywood Reporter states that “PEA suspects MGM’s method of accounting is no accident, asserting the defendant is engaged in a ‘Hollywood accounting catch me if you can’ process designed intentionally to keep for itself money rightfully due to PEA.” It seems that PEA has finally drawn the line and seeks to cancel MGM’s contracts.

Ronald S. Taft and Howard J. Schwartz of Wolff & Samson PC represents PEA.

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Joseph Perry (@jperry325) is a 3L at St. John’s University whose goal is to become a publishing and media law attorney. He has interned at William Morris Endeavor, Rodale, Inc., Columbia University Press, and is currently interning at Hachette Book Group and volunteering at the Media Law Resource Center, which has given him insight into the legal aspects of the publishing and media industries.

Featured Image Courtesy of [Sean Davis via Flickr]

Joseph Perry

Joseph Perry is a graduate of St. John’s University School of Law whose goal is to become a publishing and media law attorney. He has interned at William Morris Endeavor, Rodale, Inc., Columbia University Press, and is currently interning at Hachette Book Group and volunteering at the Media Law Resource Center, which has given him insight into the legal aspects of the publishing and media industries. Contact Joe at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Hollywood Case to Watch: MGM May Lose Rights to Eastwood & Brando Classics appeared first on Law Street.