Paul Newman, George R. Hill and Pan Arts Production Corp. v. Universal Pictures and M.C.A., Inc.

This is an appeal from a district court judgment dismissing appellants’ antitrust claim. Appellants are Paul Newman, a well-known film actor, George Roy Hill, a prominent film director, and Pan Arts Production corporation, Hill’s closely owned corporation (hereinafter “Newman and Hill”). Between 1972 and 1976, they contracted with appellee Universal Pictures to provide their services in two feature films, “Slapshot” and “The Sting,” in exchange for a percentage of the revenues. They filed this action for damages arising out of Universal’s distribution of revenues from the sale and rentals of video cassette versions of those films. Appellants allege in their complaint that after the emergence of video cassette technology in the early 1980s, Universal Pictures and other major motion picture studios conspired to fix the percentage of the revenue paid to artists, including Newman and Hill, for their services, in violation of sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. Appellants allege that they therefore received smaller percentages of the cassette revenue for “The Sting” and “Slapshot” than they would otherwise have received. They do not allege damages in connection with any film…