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WILMINGTON — Attorneys for Warren Beatty asked a federal judge Thursday to allow the actor to proceed with a California lawsuit against the Tribune Co. over the TV and movie rights to comic book character Dick Tracy.
Tribune Media Services, a Tribune subsidiary, has been feuding with Beatty for years over the rights to the cartoon detective.
The company wants U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey to declare that it owns the rights, but Beatty's attorneys argue that the dispute should be settled in California, where he filed a lawsuit last year before Tribune sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Carey did not immediately rule Thursday on Beatty's motion to lift the automatic stay of the California lawsuit that resulted from Tribune's bankruptcy filing. He also did not immediately render an order on Beatty's request to halt discovery in the adversary proceeding filed by Tribune in March seeking a declaration that it owned the Tracy rights.
Instead, the judge indicated that he would allow Tribune to move forward in gathering information, including deposing Beatty's business manager, Jeff Bacon.
Tribune, which owns the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Sun of Baltimore and other dailies, as well as 23 TV stations, sought bankruptcy protection in December, citing declining advertising revenue and a debt load of $13 billion.
Attorneys for the Tribune have said the Dick Tracy rights represent tens of millions of dollars in potential income to the company's bankruptcy estate.
The dispute centers on a 1985 agreement between Beatty and the Tribune Co. that paved the way for the 1990 movie "Dick Tracy," in which Beatty starred.
The agreement allowed Tribune to seek reversion of the rights granted to Beatty if he had not begun principal photography on another feature film or television series or special within a certain amount of time.
Beatty claims that he began principal photography on a television special last November, and that Tribune is thus precluded from trying to regain the rights. Tribune, which gave its initial reversion notice in 2006, claims Beatty has failed to prove that he began photography on the TV special in the required time period.
Tribune attorney Mike Doss argued Thursday that in seeking permission from Carey to proceed with the California lawsuit, Beatty should be ordered to produce all documents related to the alleged production of a TV special that he claims satisfies his obligations to Tribune to maintain the Tracy rights.
Gregg Galardi, an attorney for Beatty, argued that Tribune's document request was too broad and could prejudice his arguments that the Delaware court is an improper venue for the dispute and does not have personal jurisdiction over Beatty. A preliminary hearing on his motion to dismiss the adversary proceeding in Delaware is scheduled for July 28.
"If we're going to produce documents to the court, ... we don't think we open the gates to any and all documents," Galardi said.
Doss argued that Beatty should not be allowed to pick and choose which documents to provide to the company. He also said Tribune had offered a stipulation to Beatty's attorneys to address their concerns that allowing discovery in the adversary proceeding in Delaware could undermine their motion to dismiss the case.
"The dispute over the Tracy rights is going to proceed in some form," Doss noted, adding that any delay in resolving the issue injures both the Tribune and its creditors.
