Bankrupt media company Tribune Media Services (a division of newspaper publisher Tribune Co) filed a lawsuit Thursday against Academy-award winning actor and director Warren Beatty in an attempt to recover the movie and TV rights to the fictional character Dick Tracy.
Beatty purchased the rights for Dick Tracy in 1985 and went on to act and direct the 1990 film by the same name to critical and commercial success.
Tribune Co, however, says that Beatty has “made no productive use” of the rights for over a decade, which, by law, would cause them to expire and revert back to the company’s possession.
A legal battle over the rights to the iconic comic character has been ongoing since late 2006.
Last year, Beatty filed a suit against Tribune Co, saying he had started work on a Dick Tracy TV show which would prevent his rights to the character from expiring.
