Actor loses royalty battle

Sir Christopher Lee has been ordered to pay £640k...

19:11 23 March 2010

Sir Christopher Lee has been ordered by a Spanish court to pay £640,000.

The actor lost a battle over royalties to an illustrator for work he did for a DVD cover.

Gerardo Moreno claims he was not properly paid for the art work on the DVD of 'Jinnah'.

Moreno sued the 87-year-old for his designs for the cover for Lee's 1998 movie about the life of the founding father of Pakistan, Muhammed Ali Jinnah. The digital artwork was for the 2004 DVD release of the movie.

Moreno also filed action against the 'Dracula' star's official website, run by agent and son-in-law Juan Aneiros, and production company The Quaid Project at a civil court in Burgos, northern Spain.

Judge Jose Maria Tapia Lopez ruled in favour of the illustrator and ordered the defendants to pay the huge sum, freezing the actor's assets until the money is paid.

Mr Moreno said he received a payment for a digital illustration of the DVD cover and was then asked to design more content including interactive menus and an informative book.

He claimed he did not receive any further payments for the work which were used again for the second edition of the DVD.

Lee and his associates were not in court for the ruling.

The actor made his name as Count Dracula in the Hammer horror films of the 1950s and 60s and has appeared in more than 220 films.