Tribune Media Services has filed suit against actor/director Warren Beatty to recover the movie and TV rights to the comic strip property Dick Tracy.  Beatty acquired the rights in 1985 and directed and starred in the 1990 feature film, but stands to lose the rights if he’s not using them. 

The issue in the Tribune suit, which bookends one filed by Beatty against Tribune in November, is whether Beatty’s initiation of work on a TV special based on the character meets the requirement that he be actively using the property.