A summary of Southern California-related business litigation developments during the past week.

Writers Allege Movie Deal Interference: Two comedy writers who developed a screenplay for an ABC “Movie of the Week” about a college that teaches comedy classes sued a fellow writer on grounds that he sabotaged the deal by claiming that the idea was his. Vic Dulop’s and David Miller’s federal court suit accused Jamie Masada of unlawfully misappropriating their rights to the screenplay by producing a similar script entitled “Laugh Factory.” The suit contends that Dunlop came up with the idea of a comedy college in 1974 and performed a routine about it in comedy clubs. Dunlop and Miller began negotiating a movie deal with Lorimar Pictures and ABC this year, the suit alleged, but the deal fell through when Masada accused them of plagiarizing his script. (Filed Aug. 21, 19990. Case No. 90-4507.)