People's court & Judge Judy - Who pays?

[Trophy1]

You know those court TV shows like Judge Judy and People's Court. I read somewhere that whoever wins gets paid by the show's production company. Is this true? I've searched everywhere and no one seems to know the answer. Because I like watching these shows and it would make me not want to watch if the show pays. It's like the defendants would not even care if they won or lost.

[RobRich]

In order to give each party an incentive to appear in syndi-court, as opposed to settling their dispute in state court, the syndi-court’s production company will pay the judgment on behalf of the defendant if he or she loses. If the syndi-court judge finds for the defendant, each party is paid a fee for appearing on the show. On some of the shows, the parties receive the appearance fee, regardless of the outcome. A defendant who thinks he or she has a bad case has a great incentive to appear on the show, since the appearance itself absolves any personal liability. Alternatively, if the defendant has a very good defense, they can earn an appearance fee for a few minutes of on air berating by someone like Judge Judy. The system of having the arbitrator pay for either the judgment or a specified appearance fee creates a major issue of partiality on the part of the neutral, as he or she can decide for the defendant when the amount in controversy is greater than the appearance fee, and for the plaintiff in any case where the amount is under the appearance fee.

Source: American Bar Association

[Trophy1]

Thanks for the info - I got this link from your link. It sums it all up. They pay for everything. It takes something from the show now I think. It just doesn't seem right. I don't know.

http://www.journaltimes.com/articles...lines/news.txt