[Rumor] It's on ITV??

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I freely admit that contractual law is not my specialty [although I have a considerable interest in law in a general sense] but there seems to me a legal inconsistency in the idea of a contractual obligation extending beyond the life of the contract.

Surely we should agree that, by definition, a fixed term contract can only be enforceable for the life of the contract. A contract having authority beyond the term of the contract is an unenforceable provision, because to enforce it would demand referring back to the legal authority of the contract; but if the contract is already expired then it no longer, by law, has any legal authority. It would be like a house that has had its foundation removed and is sitting in mid-air; the house would have no foundation on which to rest and must collapse.

To use a different analogy, suppose the government imposed a law that said that fresh fish may not be sold on Fridays for the next fifty years. Suppose next year the government repeals that same law. Would the condition of that law still apply for the remaining 49 years once it has been repealed? Obviously not, because the power of that law has been made null and void.

Likewise I suggest that any conditions contained in a contract cannot have legal authority beyond the term of the contract; if any conditions did still have currency then the contract, by definition, has not expired but is still current. I believe that the sunset concept of terms and conditions is a very basic concept of contractual law, but people are bluffed into thinking the power of a contract extends beyond the period of the contract.

On that basis I still maintain that CHM are free to start up another show, if they choose to do so, without waiting for what I consider to be a null and void, unenforceable and powerless contractual provision to expire, unless someone can make a convincing legal case that my interpretation is wrong. If they can then I would willingly change my mind.

This may help; I believe it supports the idea that contractual conditions can only apply during the term of the contract: http://vcci.com.vu/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/6.3-factsheet-termination-of-fixed-term-contracts.pdf
 
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Yes, but this is how the media (especially in the UK) works. The Mirror wrote the article, and the other sites are really just quoting the Mirror. Garbage like this has been bubbling up ever since Jeremy landed his first punch.
 
Yes, but this is how the media (especially in the UK) works. The Mirror wrote the article, and the other sites are really just quoting the Mirror. Garbage like this has been bubbling up ever since Jeremy landed his first punch.

Replying to myself with this important update. Here's one I particularly like:

http://www.foodworldnews.com/articl...isodes-free-richard-hammond-james-may-itv.htm

Food World News. Yes, apparently it's also a leading source of Top Gear news.

No, wait -- Oh, it's just quoting the Mirror, too.
 
Food World News - yes, that is the obvious leading source for Top Gear news. What, were there no turnips in the shape of Boris Johnson's head that they could report on this week instead? :p
 
Pulling a dick move (because that is what that is) isn't necessarily helping people's perception of it all.

Except that this isn't necessarily a dick move.

Number one, if there's nothing in the BBC contract that says JC can't make a car show *for international network streaming,* then by all means he should explore that option. If ITV, Dave or C4 subsequently buys UK rebroadcast rights that's their decision, not JC's, since he doesn't control that.

Number two, if the BBC hadn't bothered to update their non-compete clause to account for net services when they renewed with JC last time, that is hardly JC's fault, but merely another example of middle mismanagement failing to grasp the growth of net streaming.
 
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The contract term is to the end of the non compete clause.

Yes, I'll go along with this. I asked someone I know who is knowledgeable about contract law and he told me that if there's a stipulation in the contract that extends to a certain date then the contract is valid until that date in that particular area. I was right to believe that an expired contract has no legal authority beyond the date of expiry.

What may vary are portions of the contract that may expire sooner than other parts. So if CHM have contracts that say they may not develop a new car show in competition to the BBC until 2017 then their contracts are still current in that area, even if other portions of their contracts have already expired. This satisfies my wondering about an expired contract still having any authority after the expiry date. If the three had signed new contracts earlier this year then doubtlessly there would have been a clause nullifying all terms and conditions from the previous contract, to be replaced by new T&C of the new contract.

It does occur to me that if it was me I'd have insisted on being paid until the final expiry of every part of the limiting conditions of the contract, whether I was still appearing on Top Gear or not.
 
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I am utterly convinced that all TG / CHM news from the last month has come from journalists reading FG posts, then making up a lot of BS.

Not exactly the way I see it. It seems to me that The Mirror makes up whatever nonsense they can conjure up, and then every single news web site in the UK repeats it, quoting The Mirror and nobody or nothing else.
 
I am utterly convinced that all TG / CHM news from the last month has come from journalists reading FG posts,

If only; we could have fun! Like: "It is rumored that Jeremy Clarkson will return to Top Gear, hidden as the new Stig."
 
Careful, fat and cranky Stig may decide to punch you after another poor lap time.
 
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