What happens with ‘Pasapalabra’? The history of the eternal legal struggle for the rights of ‘El Rosco’

A few days ago, a decision Barcelona audience gave an unexpected direction to the endless legal struggle for broadcasting rights. muffin of the Password. The judge signed with the Dutch production company MC&F and signed to Atresmedia. Immediate suspension of the organization of the competitionhowever, this order will not affect the format until the Supreme Court decides.

The most frequently asked question from viewers who learned that the program is guaranteed to broadcast for at least two years what’s going on in this case And why, after the lawsuit against Mediaset was settled and the format was returned to Atresmedia, the legal issues now surrounding El Rosco remain.

The answer to these doubts is not as simple as the resolution of this conflict. And this is what you have to back to top this great television format to understand what’s going on.

1. Beginnings in the UK

original format Password It was broadcast on the British BBC in 1996. under the name Alphabet GameIn the program produced by ITV, two contestants, each helped by two celebrities, came face to face. However, this competition did not have a successful final exam, and moreover, it was unsuccessful in the audience.

Although the program aired on the British network for only a few months, two years after it ended Mediaset Italia was equally interested.. So the chain bought the broadcast rights from ITV and started offering Canale 5. passphrase.

But there is an important nuance in this version, because the Italian chain Added a final test increase the excitement and attractiveness of the competition. Yeah, it was about muffin. But -here MC&F comes into play- at that time Mediaset also rights 21×100A program created by the Dutch production company, which now claims to give Canale 5 the right to broadcast the competition as an episode in another format.

2. Arrival in Spain

It didn’t take long for the good response in Italy to attract Spanish television. So in 2000 Antena 3 bought the rights of the competition from ITV and brought it to Spain muffin including. By the hand and name of Silvia Jato PasswordThe Atresmedia network began broadcasting the program.

Five years after its premiere, the audience for the show dwindled significantly, and Atresmedia decided to cancel its broadcast. that’s when Mediaset acquires Spanish rights to the British production company and in 2007 Password This time it goes to Telecinco, hand in hand with Christian Gálvez and the BocaBoca company at the helm.

The “house” change fit so well with the contest that stood out among the audience and became one of the chain’s afternoon strongholds. However, the first obstacle to the program was the Spanish production company losing its broadcasting rights in 2009 and Telecinco signs co-production agreement with ITVthe original owner of the format.

3. Initial problems

Mediaset and ITV continued hand in hand on the road to success. Password. But on January 21, 2010, Paolo Vasile’s company surprises the production company by telling them: unilaterally broke the deal. Reason: On December 21, 2009, he received a letter from Dutch production company MC&F Broadcasting Production claiming to be the legitimate owner of El Rosco.

Mediaset later accused ITV of failing to guarantee “compensation” or “exclusivity” of the intellectual property in the final test, so it decided to leave ITV and continue broadcasting the format hand in hand with MC&F. For this to be possible, tests have been changed Created by the British production company, only the last challenge kept the source of this conflict and the most appealing to the audience.

From then on, the program’s final credits allowed Pasapalabra to be based on the original format. 21×100 From MC&F.

4. ITV-Mediaset conflict

Given the unilateral decision of Mediaset España, ITV sent up to five faxes warned the network that he was abusing his original idea, but the company ignored the warnings and went on the air.

Despite ITV’s continued willingness to settle this dispute out of court, Telecinco flatly refused to reach an agreement. In addition, the chain sued the production company in 2010 to demand the refund of bills paid since 2009, believing they had fooled Mediaset into saying they own all the rights to the program.

Eventually, ITV went on the offensive and went to court in 2012. Sue Telecinco for unilateral termination of the contract and then the illegal extraction of Pasapalabra. Seven years later, the Supreme Court finally settled with ITV, and Mediaset had to immediately stop broadcasting the contest.

Once the intellectual property of ITV is accepted and the broadcast on Telecinco ends, the production company a new chain of interest wins the competition and Antena 3 buys the broadcast rights in Spain. Like this, Password would return to his first home twenty years after its premiere.

5. MC&F-Atresmedia conflict

The next is known. As Roberto Leal’s competition devastates Atresmedia every afternoon, Telecinco continues to desperately seek a format to fill the void left by the show. However, when this legal battle seemed to be over, the Dutch MC&F reappears on stage demand recognition of property muffin.

Producer sued ITV and Atresmedia in early 2020 at the Barcelona Commercial Court. In October of the same year, the judge refused the injunction requested by the plaintiff and allowed a verdict to be issued. muffin to be continued. However, MC&F appealed to the Barcelona Court, which reversed the case, accepting that the rights to the test belonged to the Dutch company and ordering the publication to be stopped.

[Victoria de ‘Pasapalabra’: un juez rechaza suspender ‘El Rosco’]

As expected, Atresmedia and ITV appealed the sentence and they can continue Password normally Until the Supreme Court decides. Moreover, should the Supreme Court eventually decide that El Rosco belongs to MC&F, the chain will always have the option to negotiate an economic settlement so the program can continue to rely on star testing. 3 million viewers.

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