Ukrainian Director Wins Case Against HBO Over His Video in 'Chernobyl' Series
Ukrainian director Andriy Pryymachenko defended his copyright in an American court against HBO, which used his work without permission in the production of the miniseries Chernobyl.
The Gaze reports on it, referring to Ukrinform.
‘An agreement has been reached with HBO. As a result of the proceedings in the Southern District Court of New York, the parties have reached an agreement. This is a significant precedent, as it was possible to defend the copyright of a Ukrainian in a US court in a case involving one of the largest American (and global) media companies,’ the director wrote on Facebook.
Pryymachenko noted that ‘the details of the agreement cannot be disclosed, according to the terms of the contract.’ From the very beginning of this case, more than six years ago, his goal was to restore justice.
‘No matter what company it is, no matter what country it is from — whether the United States or China — you cannot take someone else's work and pretend that nothing happened,’ the director emphasised.
According to him, when he took on this case in 2019, he did not imagine how long and difficult the process would be. Two years of the COVID-19 pandemic and more than three years of Russia's full-scale invasion made this case even more difficult.
Throughout the entire process, Pryimachenko was supported by professionals from the Law Net law firm, with whom they creatively and unconventionally overcame all possible and impossible obstacles.
The director recalled that in 2019, HBO released the series Chernobyl, the first episode of which copied his work without Pryimachenko's knowledge or permission. The director received rather insolent responses to his friendly appeal to the series' production company. After that, he decided to take legal action.
The miniseries Chernobyl, produced by the American company HBO, took first place in the International Movie Data Base popularity rating, surpassing even Game of Thrones.
Some episodes of the series were filmed in Ukraine.