1+1 media, the TV channel "Ukraine" and the Fremantle company concluded a settlement agreement
"Ukraine" TV channel, the Fremantle company and the 1+1 media group, showing good will, respect for the norms of the law and the principles of business ethics, demonstrating the unity of the Ukrainian audiovisual industry, realizing the responsibility for the international image of the state of Ukraine, as a state that is respected and protected copyright and intellectual property rights, creating a precedent for the purpose of forming the practice of civilized resolution of any conflicts in the market, reached an agreement in principle on the pre-trial settlement of the dispute regarding the use and adaptation of the television formats "The Masked Singer" ("Mask") and "Mysteries in the Spotlight" ("Masquerade") on the territory of Ukraine.
The settlement agreement provides for a number of guarantees and obligations, which are designed to resolve conflicting issues that have arisen among the parties, without providing them with any legal assessment, and to create conditions for the formation of a healthy competitive environment necessary for the effective implementation of such projects. In particular, the agreement clearly sets out the key format elements of each show and the elements that must not overlap in any case.
The parties also undertake to take all the steps that depend on them to strengthen the Ukrainian audiovisual production industry, in particular, in the field of copyright protection, intellectual property rights and television formats.
Resolution of this type of conflict by the parties without litigation, exclusively through negotiations, frank dialogue, and guided by the "win-win" principle is an undeniable precedent for the Ukrainian media industry. The parties call on other market participants to use this approach to resolve possible disputes.
Press service
Group 1+1 media
The key provisions of the Settlement Agreement can be found in the "Guarantees and Obligations of the Parties" appendix.
Addition:
"Guarantees and obligations of the Parties. Extract from the Peace Agreement".
5.1. The waiver of claims provided by Ukraina Television and Radio Company and Fremantle under this agreement shall remain in effect subject to compliance with "1+1" television and radio company of the following obligations (Obligation to refrain from 1+1 actions):
(a) from the date of signing this agreement and until August 31, 2021 (inclusive) not to broadcast (not to make a public announcement) on the air of the "1+1" TV channel, any other TV channel that is part of the 1+1 Group, managed or controlled 1+1 Group or any Related Person:
(i) The program "Masquerade", and
(ii) any other software product (audiovisual work), which in its form and content will be a version of the "Masquerade" Program;
(b) starting from January 02, 2021 and until the date following the date of the public announcement by the Ukraine TV channel of the last (final) episode of the Mask Program, but no later than June 01, 2021:
(i) not to advertise or announce on the Internet on the official resources of the 1+1 Television channel (pages in social networks, official channels in services for sharing access to information / content (YouTube, etc.)) a public announcement of the "Masquerade" Program, including but without limitation, any other software product (audiovisual work) that is a version of the Masquerade Program in form and content;
(ii) not to make new publications using photo/video materials from the "Masquerade" Program on the Internet on the official resources of the "1+1" Television channel, and/or not to re-post the content on such resources in other selections;
(iii) not to make publications using photo/video materials made during the creation or production of any other software product (audiovisual work), which in form and/or content will be a version of the "Masquerade" Program.
(i) For the avoidance of doubt, the Parties have agreed that:
(1) any actions of participants of the "Masquerade" Program or third parties, including publicizing, posting, publishing photos / video materials, interviews and other materials related to the "Masquerade" Program, or
(2) interviews with officials of the "1+1" Television and Radio Company related to the "Masquerade" Program, or
(3) publication, placement, publication by participants of the "Masquerade" Program or by third parties of photo/video materials of the "Masquerade" Program or
(4) the creation by third parties of parodies of the "Masquerade" Program and/or audiovisual works similar to the "Masquerade" Program and their notification or publication on the Internet,
cannot be considered as non-fulfillment of the Obligation to abstain from the actions of the "1+1" Television and Radio Company.
However, TAKING NOTE that this provision will not apply when such actions are carried out by any persons within the scope of television programs created by the "1+1" Television and Radio Company or at its request, including programs of its own production.
(c) not to create own television format and not to publicly announce television programs produced on the basis of such own format, which will have a concept similar to the Concept of the Program "Masquerade". In the event that "1+1" Television and Radio Company acquires the rights to use a television format other than "Mysteries in the Spotlight", which in its concept is similar to the "Masquerade" Program Concept, "1+1" Television and Radio Company, regardless of the name of such format, must comply with the requirements set forth in subparagraph (d) of clause 5.1. of this agreement.
Solely for the purposes of this clause, the Parties agree that the Masquerade Program Concept means a television program/television broadcast concept where two teams (including any other name, such as judges, experts, etc.) who may, but need not, consist of celebrities impersonating famous persons performing in Masquerade costumes, thereby making it impossible to visually identify them; masked persons perform numbers of various genres, but most of the numbers performed by them are vocal.
(d) in case of future creation of any audiovisual works based on the adapted "Mysteries in the Spotlight" Format (including the second season of the "Masquerade" Program), 1+1 undertakes to comply with the requirements agreed upon by the Parties:
(i) there will be two teams of celebrities who will compete against each other by guessing the faces of the celebrities appearing before them in Masquerade costumes;
(ii) celebrities in masquerade costumes should not and cannot compete among ourselves;
(iii) the structure of each episode and season of a telecast is generally approved or agreed upon by the format owner, taking into account that such structure is not strictly vertical, namely: the number of celebrities appearing in Masquerade remains the same from episode to episode; the identity of the person in the Masquerade costume is established by the winning team based on the results of each episode; the number of celebrities in masquerade costumes, determined by the channel in each episode, goes immediately to the last episode of the season ("the finale"); changes to the structure of the telecast may only be made with the prior consent of the owner of the "Mysteries in the Spotlight" Format, but in any case such changes may not conflict with the requirements for audiovisual works that can be created based on the adapted "Mysteries in the Spotlight" Format and which are set forth in this agreement;
(iv) numbers performed by masked celebrities (participants) performing in masquerade costumes in each of the episodes (issues) of the program must be in various genres, in particular, vocal, circus, drama, dance, pantomime, stand-up comedy, etc.; at the same time, the number of vocal numbers performed by the participants (disguised celebrities performing in masquerade costumes) in each of the episodes (issues), except for the finale, cannot be more than 50% (fifty) from the total number of numbers performed by participants (disguised celebrities who perform in masquerade costumes) in each of the episodes (issues) of the program; the number of vocal numbers performed by the participants (disguised celebrities performing in masquerade costumes) in the last episode (issue) of the season (finale) cannot be more than 60% (sixty) of the total number of numbers performed by the participants (disguised celebrities, who perform in Masquerade Costumes) in such episode (issue). For the avoidance of doubt, the Parties agree that a Celebrity Masked Performance shall be considered any performance performed by a contestant in disguise (in Masquerade Costume) in accordance with the rules of the format / telecast, while the performance of numbers by the contestants in disguise is outside the rules of the format / television transmission is not allowed.
(v) viewers do not vote for masked celebrities, viewers can only vote for celebrity teams competing against each other;
(i) the voice of masked celebrities can be changed;
(vii) it is allowed to provide teams with clues about the identity of the masked celebrity in the form of specially created video clues (Clue Cards), provided that such video clues meet the following description and criteria:
Description of "Hidden business cards". There is a video story where the hero (disguised celebrity participant) is shown, and the voice of the presenter behind the screen gives some information about the hero, famous people can comment and suggest who might be under the mask. We do not hear the voice of the hero talking about himself. After the performance, during communication with the teams, video clips can be given, in which the hero is in some interesting location and talks about himself in a changed voice. This trick is essentially an artistic response to team members' questions. The ratio is 50/50: 50% - tips from the presenter and 50% - the hero talks about himself in the video. In this case, the character with a changed voice and celebrity teams have the right to interact and communicate directly without / or with the participation of the host.
(iii) at least two masked celebrities (performing in Masquerade Costumes) participating in the program must be revealed (guessed persons hidden under the Masquerade Costumes) in the same program and cannot participate in other programs;
(ix) The "1+1" television and radio company must agree on the local adaptation of the "Mysteries in the Spotlight" Format with the owner of the "Mysteries in the Spotlight" Format in accordance with the terms of the contract with him before the first broadcast of the audiovisual work. At the written request of TV and Radio Channel "Ukraine" or Fremantle, depending on the situation, the Television and Radio Company "1+1" shall provide its own written confirmation of such agreement, provided that such request may be made no earlier than five working days before the date of the award. era of this public notice. For the avoidance of doubt, the Parties agree that the failure of "1+1" Television and Radio Company to provide confirmation of approval at the request of "Ukraine" TV and Radio Channel or Fremantle during the specified period shall be considered as the absence of such approval by the owner of the format, as a result of which "1+1" Television and Radio Company shall not have the right to refer or rely on the existence of such approval.
5.2. The waiver of claims provided by the "1+1" Television and Radio Company under this agreement remains in force subject to compliance by the "Ukraine" Television and Radio Company the following obligations:
In case of future creation of the Program A "mask" based on The Masked Singer Format, it must meet the following requirements:
(i) operate in accordance with the original "The Masked Singer" Format and/or an adapted local version thereof as agreed by Freemantle;
(ii) celebrities performing in Masquerade costumes, will compete with each other, performing exclusively vocal numbers in each episode. Performance by celebrities in masquerade costumes of various numbers, except for the vocal genre (for example, dances, circus elements, etudes, etc.), is prohibited;
(iii) the structure of the show must include only one team of celebrities who guess the identities of the celebrities appearing before them in Masquerade Costumes, but any changes in the composition of the team (quantitative or personality changes) shall not be considered a violation of the relevant requirement;
(iv) in each episode, except for the Semi-Finals and Finals, no more than one Contestant in the Masquerade Costume may be exposed among the contestants (celebrities in Masquerade Costumes voted for by the audience);
(v) the Mask Program cannot have a virtual co-host.
