Media Mergers’ Bottom Line So Far? Lawsuits : Consolidation in the industry is fueling a number of legal battles between entertainment companies and the creative talent behind shows.

The jury is still out on exactly what media consolidation means to those who actually watch television shows, but one group already appears to be making out handsomely because of it--lawyers.

Such concentration of the media is known as “vertical integration,” because massive corporations control every aspect of programming, including its production, distribution and exhibition. This dynamic has led to a flurry of lawsuits by producers and actors who feel they are getting shortchanged when popular shows are sold into syndication or renewed by networks.

Two recent examples involve Fox. David Duchovny, star of “The X-Files,” contends in a suit filed in August that 20th Century Fox Television deprived him of his fair share of syndication revenue from that series, thanks in part to selling rerun rights to Fox’s FX cable channel. This week, producer Steven Bochco lodged a similar complaint pertaining to “NYPD Blue,” which Fox also peddled to FX--in essence, transferring money from one of its corporate pockets into another.

“This is just the 1999 version of what they used to call ‘creative bookkeeping,’ ” Bochco said, adding that he was reluctant to take legal action, but ultimately, “If you begin to feel you’ve truly been taken advantage of, you have to do something.”

Other cases have involved actor Alan Alda, arising from Fox’s sale of “MASH” reruns; and the producers of “Home Improvement,” who accused Disney of negotiating a “sweetheart deal” when renewing the show at its network, ABC. Both those disputes were settled out of court, and terms weren’t disclosed.

Further industry consolidation, such as Viacom’s proposed merger with CBS, promises to make creative talent even more suspicious of studios. These include feature film stars and directors concerned about their share of profits from selling movies to television--such as Warner Bros. steering packages of its films to TNT and TBS, sister Time Warner entities.

This tension will almost certainly result, at least in the near term, in more lawsuits. In fact, Norman Horowitz--a consultant who headed Columbia Pictures Television and MGM/UA Telecommunications--and two other former studio executives, Leon Brachman and Jerry Gottlieb, have teamed to act as expert witnesses in such cases, helping to decipher arcane studio practices.

Horowitz maintains that unless studios auction programs to all potential buyers, talent will always have cause to wonder if they haven’t gotten what’s due them.

“The only true test of what any of these things are worth is a marketplace test,” he said. “The studios place themselves in an untenable position, because they won’t allow the program to go where it belongs, which is the highest bidder.”

Some industry sources say concentration of the business into a handful of major companies is also influencing programming, stifling the ability of independent producers to emerge as the next Norman Lear, Aaron Spelling or Carsey-Werner--who generated such shows as “All in the Family,” “The Mod Squad” and “Roseanne,” respectively.

“It really stops the individual entrepreneur who can build a company, get leverage and creatively give us shows that we other-wise might not see,” said entertainment attorney Bob Myman.

Part of the recent spate of legal action stems from the elimination of federal rules that once limited the networks’ ability to own and broadcast shows. Some suggest adapting to this new reality will require amending the way deals are structured.

“They’re going to try to anticipate these issues and devise contracts around them, to the extent that they can,” said Jim Jackoway, a partner in the Century City-based law firm Armstrong, Hirsch, Jackoway, Tyerman & Wertheimer.

As for the notion most of these suits pit millionaire producers against billion-dollar corporations, Bochco pointed out few people who work in television are ever associated with a hit, providing legitimate incentive to ensure they are dealt with fairly.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most people,” he said. “First, you’ve got to have a hit, and most people don’t. Second, you have to have a significant profit participation . . . or you can end up spending more [on lawyers] than you ever get in profits.”

Though high-profile plaintiffs such as Duchovny and Bochco are able to risk challenging News Corp. (which didn’t respond to a phone call seeking comment), insiders note countless others in Hollywood lack the resources or status necessary to take on the likes of Time Warner, Viacom or Disney.

“The truth is, most of the people can’t sue,” Horowitz said. “It’s tough, politically and financially.”