Musicians sue US film studios for outsourcing

A musicians union has filed a lawsuit against Hollywood studios for outsourcing scores for films including the blockbuster "Interstellar."

The union said that three studios -- Warner Brothers, Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer -- violated a collective bargaining agreement that music for Hollywood films would be produced in the United States or Canada.

"The disregard for the livelihood of professional musicians by these companies has to stop," said Ray Hair, president of the 80,000-strong American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada.

The lawsuit pointed to the score for last year's hit science fiction epic "Interstellar," which was directed by Christopher Nolan and starred Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine and Matthew McConaughey.

German composer Hans Zimmer created the widely praised score, which according to the lawsuit was produced in Britain.

The lawsuit, filed last week in a federal court in California, also said that the remake of "Robocop" and the horror film "Carrie" were scored in Britain.

The action additionally pointed to the sci-fi comedy "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island," which the union said was scored in Australia and Papua New Guinea.

The lawsuit seeks damages equivalent to the union members' purported losses as well as contributions to the workers' pension and health care funds.

The studios did not immediately comment on the lawsuit.