Pirates on tour: fake musical snatches $2 million
Published 05 June, 2009, 15:51
Copyright violation has brought US$2,000,000 to pirate troupes, which have been staging the musical ‘Notre-Dame de Paris’ unlicensed in several of Russia’s regions for a year.
The French company possessing the rights for the Notre-Dame de Paris brand has learnt about the pirates’ productions being staged in several Russian cities and informed local police. The activities of both illegally-touring troupes have been stopped.
The troupes have been touring across the country for about a year, and gave on average some 20 performances a month. Ticket prices for the “counterfeit” musical varied from about $30 up to about $100.
The official representative of the Economic Security Department of Russia, Andrey Pilipchuk, says that the billboards announcing the musical in Russian cities informed of the participation of some well-known Russian actors in the “special touring production.”
However the rights for the Russian version of Notre Dame de Paris belong to a commercial organization and, according to the agreement conditions, in Russia the musical could only be seen at the Moscow Operetta Theatre. Moreover, the contract expired in 2004.
Representatives of the French company have underlined that the pirate versions of the musical strongly differ from the original. The Economic Security Department is responsible for investigating cases of copyright infringement. Police are considering filing a case against the fraudsters.
It’s still unknown whether the actions of the two swindling troupes were coordinated. There is also no information as to where the actors of either troupe are at the moment.
The original French-Canadian musical “Notre Dame de Paris”, based on the novel of Victor Hugo, was first staged in 1998.
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