Question
Can the employees from The Office use the documentary in legal situations?
I don't mean being allowed to film a situation like The Deposition.
In the episode href="https://theoffice.fandom.com/wiki/Broke" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Broke, Michael negotiates the buy-out of TMPC to Dunder Mifflin. They verbally agree to all the terms, but during the meeting nobody writes anything down, no notes are kept.
What's to stop Dunder Mifflin from changing the agreement?
David argued against the terms, because it would cost DM millions of dollars.
Even if Michael, Ryan, and Pam claimed the agreement was changed, why would anybody believe them? No evidence exists, Ryan isn't trusted by corporate, which leaves Micheal and Pam, whom DM could claim are two disgruntled employees attempting to take advantage of DM.
Presumably off screen, contracts were written, and Michael, Ryan, and Pam signed them, and they agreed terms were met. So we can safely assume that DM didn't try to back out.
Is there any canon or official source that can confirm if the footage of the agreement was used to support Michael, Ryan, and Pam, or if the footage can be used in legal situations?
Answer
I guess I'll turn this into an answer, though I think Flater gave a pretty good answer to the actual question as posed.
I don't want to dig too much into the first question. I'm not sure if they could use the documentary in a legal situation; but I would definitely be reluctant to go back on a verbal contract when it was recorded on video; regardless who the rights belong to. It would take some very specific documentary contract wording to be sure that the video couldn't come back to bite you.
What's to stop Dunder Mifflin from changing the agreement?
David argued against the terms, because it would cost DM millions of dollars.
Dunder Mifflin wouldn't want to change the contract. It was DM's idea to buy out The Michael Scott Paper Company.
When David Wallace protested the million dollar buyout, he mentioned something along the lines of TMSPC not being worth that much. Michael then spilled the beans that his company was worth nothing. Michael then made it clear that even when TMSPC goes bankrupt, he will just create another paper company to take DM clients, and another after that; because he has "no shortage of names".
This is when David Wallace agrees to the buyout, only after discovering that TMSPC is worthless. Either side trying to change the agreement wouldn't be beneficial at this point. DM wants TMSPC off their back, and TMSPC employees just want stable jobs. By the time the deal is made, David Wallace has about as much information as the viewer, and still decides to go through with it. There's no real reason in the show for him to back out.
Answered By - JMac
