Lawrence.com

Crosby heirs sue for past royalties

A lawsuit accusing Universal Music Group of underpaying royalties on Bing Crosby's recordings is scheduled for a Nov. 5 hearing in Superior Court in Santa Monica, Calif.

The heirs of Crosby, who died in 1977 at age 73, filed the lawsuit, which seeks $16 million.

It alleges that the singer, who did most of his recording for Decca Records from the 1930s through the 1960s, negotiated a deal calling for royalties on all songs recorded before 1949 to be paid at 15 percent of their wholesale price, with royalties for recordings made after then to be paid at 7 percent of their retail price.

Decca subsequently was acquired by MCA and Universal Music. According to the lawsuit, filed in July 2000, an audit showed Universal was paying royalties of 7 percent on all Crosby recordings.

Alfre Woodard shares screen test secret

When deciding on a new project, actress Alfre Woodard uses her "page 50" test.

"If I can get to that point in a script and still be intrigued by the character, I start to get my hopes up," she tells MORE magazine in its October issue.

"There's a part of me saying to the writer: 'This is good, don't make the character do something stupid. Don't bail on me now!"'

The Emmy-winning actress stars with Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey in the new film "K-Pax," a drama about a mental patient who claims he's from a distant planet.

Turner takes turn in front of cameras

Ted Turner will make a cameo in the Civil War film "Gods and Generals," which he is financing.

Turner will reprise his role from the 1993 film "Gettysburg," publicist Vic Heutschy said Monday. He'll play Col. Waller T. Patton, the great uncle of World War II Gen. George S. Patton.

"Gods and Generals," directed by Ronald Maxwell, is a prequel to "Gettysburg," which Maxwell also directed.

Director says Hollywood gave terrorists ideas

Afghanistan may have been the breeding ground for last month's terrorist attacks, but Hollywood served as a source of inspiration, says director Robert Altman.

"The movies set the pattern, and these people have copied the movies," Altman said Tuesday by phone from London, where he's finishing his film "Gosford Park." "Nobody would have thought to commit an atrocity like that unless they'd seen it in a movie.

"How dare we continue to show this kind of mass destruction in movies," said Altman, 76, whose directing credits include "M-A-S-H," "Nashville" and "Dr. T & the Women." "I just believe we created this atmosphere and taught them how to do it."