One 'Ring' penalty to rule them all

October 05, 2007 It's not quite a battle for Middle Earth, but the war between director Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema over profits from "Lord of the Rings" is quickly approaching epic status. The latest plot twist in the 21⁄2-year saga (just a tad longer than the actual trilogy) is a rare $125,000 sanction against the studio for failing to turn over potential evidence Jackson says could help prove that accounting tricks cheated him out of tens of millions in profits. For a complex entertainment case, where lawyer gamesmanship over access to documents and witnesses is fairly common, Hillman's language and the amount of the penalty are striking.

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