Court overturns BD8,000 film compensation ruling

TDT | Manama

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A BD8,000 compensation order against a well-known director has been overturned by the High Civil Appeals Court after judges ruled that the film’s producer held no rights to the work when it was entered into a Gulf film festival.

The producer had claimed he signed a sale agreement with the director and accused him of delaying the transfer of rights and submitting the film to the festival without consent.

Agreement The director rejected this, insisting the agreement was forged.

A forensic examination later confirmed the signature was inconsistent with his own.

Sara Ali, representing the director, told the court that the producer had subsequently signed a separate agreement with the production company, acknowledging a debt of BD5,000 following the film’s screening.

Objection

He raised no objection at the time to the film’s participation.

That admission proved decisive.

The court found the producer’s acknowledgement could only be read in one of two ways: either he had prior knowledge of the director’s agreement with the production company and accepted it, or he approved it after it had been made.

Rights

In either case, the director was not at fault for granting rights to the company.

The court also noted that the announcement of the film’s festival appearance predated the debt agreement.

By that time, the company held full exploitation rights and the decision to submit the film lay with them, not the director.