Globomedia, the production company behind series such as “El Internado” and “Vis a Vis,” filed a complaint against Álex Pina and his company, La Raspa Producciones S.L.U., on the grounds that he had breached the contract for the provision of services and the assignment of intellectual property rights that both parties had signed when creating “La Casa de Papel” and had failed to assign those rights to Globomedia.
Well, on November 13, 2019, Madrid Commercial Court No. 3 acquitted Álex Pina, the creator of this series—whose fourth season has just premiered on Netflix—and ordered Globomedia to pay the costs after rendering its decision in a regular trial stemming from the complaint filed by Globomedia. In its complaint, Globomedia alleged that Álex Pina had breached the contract for the provision of services and the assignment of intellectual property rights that both parties had signed.
Their professional relationship dates back to 1998. Since that year, Mr. Pina had been working for Globomedia as a screenwriter, and beginning in 2007, the two parties had entered into various contracts for the development and production of audiovisual projects; since 2014, Pina has been responsible for coordinating and producing these projects in his capacity as executive producer.
Globomedia sought compensation of 871,641.76 euros for damages, on the grounds that the contract entered into in 2016 for“the provision of services related to the creation, design, writing, content direction, development, and executive production of audiovisual projects for television, film, or other media, and the assignment of intellectual property rights over the works and creations derived from the provision of such services”had been breached by the screenwriter, since, according to the plaintiff, the contract established a“priority or preference regime”in favor of Globomedia regarding all of Mr. Pina’s creations; however, he had written the screenplay for “La Casa de Papel” without the plaintiff’s knowledge during the term of the contract.
It should be noted that, unlike previous contracts, the contract signed on April 21, 2016, did not include a commitment on the part of Mr. Pina to personally carry out the coordination and production tasks; rather, La Raspa Producciones, S.L.U. could subcontract the individuals it deemed necessary to provide the services and, as stated in the ruling, the contract itself“acknowledges that the service provider may also provide its services simultaneously to other clients, specifically in the television sector.”
For their part, the defendants denied having written the script for “La Casa de Papel” behind Globomedia’s back, claiming that the contract was entered into between GLOBOMEDIA and LA RASPA PRODUCCIONES, S.L.U., and asserting that the plaintiff lacked standing to sue the screenwriter. Furthermore, they argued that there was no exclusivity agreement in favor of the plaintiff.
The Judge, therefore, dismisses Globomedia’s claims, as it follows from a literal and systematic interpretation of the contract that Mr. Pina “[…] was under no obligation to submit to Globomedia the possibility of undertaking any projects he conceived or created in the television sector during the term of the contract dated April 21, 2016, and was free to present them to third-party clients, regardless of whether they were created by the screenwriter or by third parties […].”
Author: Inés de Casas