Producer wins case against studio
Warner Bros. was ordered Thursday to pay an Academy Award-winning producer $3.2 million for failing to compensate him for profits derived from the sales of his films to television outlets.
The Los Angeles Superior Court's decision sided with attorneys for Alan Ladd Jr., who argued that the studio did not share earnings from sales to television of films such as "Chariots of Fire" and the "Police Academy" series.
The studio downplayed the value of several films, and Ladd and a business partner did not receive their fair share, the complaint said.
Attorneys for Warner Bros. are planning to file an appeal, saying the jury awarded damages for sales that stretched beyond the eight-year statute of limitations.
"While we are disappointed by the jury's verdict, we understand their confusion based on the lack of evidence of damages," Warner Bros. officials said in a statement.
"We will now look at this entire proceeding and hope to rectify this erroneous decision at this level or on appeal."
Ladd is a former executive for 20th Century Fox and won an Oscar in 1995 as the producer of "Braveheart."
