Supreme Court Kills Newman, Hill Suit on Video Profits

WASHINGTON — A federal antitrust lawsuit by actor Paul Newman and director George Roy Hill over profits from video cassette sales and rentals was killed by the Supreme Court today.

The court, without comment, let stand rulings that threw out the 1985 suit against Universal Pictures and its parent, MCA Inc.

Newman and Hill contended that Universal and other major movie studios illegally conspired in the early 1980s to hold down artificially the profits paid to actors and directors from video sales and rentals.

The lawsuit said that as a result, Newman and Hill did not receive their fair share of the profits from two movies made years earlier, “The Sting” and “Slapshot.”