A U.S. district court judge pushed Dick Clark Productions and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to end their bitter legal scuffle and reach a settlement.

The two sides have been fighting over who controls the rights to the Golden Globes for more than a year, but Judge A. Howard Matz told lawyers for both sides on Tuesday that they should come to some sort of agreement before he issues his ruling.

The HFPA is the non-profit group behind the Globes and DCP has produced the highly rated awards show for over two decades.

The HFPA sued DCP and its parent company Red Zone Capital in November 2010, alleging that the company negotiated a new contract with NBC without its consent.

DCP claims that due to an amendment in its contract, the production company retains the rights to the broadcast every time it reaches a new deal with NBC. It also claims that it did not need the approval of the HFPA to extend the pact with the network.

Matz commended both sides for their arguments, but said that a settlement would prevent a lengthy set of appeals from taking place, ending a court fight that could keep television rights to the show in limbo for months.

Daniel Petrocelli, an attorney for the HFPA, declined to comment. Marty Katz, an attorney for DCP, did not respond to requests for comment.

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