ROTTERDAM MEDIA FUND BEFORE THE JUDGE

Ricky Rijneke (1981, www.rickyrijneke.com) Werkstad Producties, producer, director, and copyright holder of the short film WING, the fish that talked back (2007), has sued the Rotterdam Media Fund (RMF) for intentional infringement of her copyright. The case will be heard by the court in Rotterdam on February 23.

The Rotterdam Media Fund, among other things, made the film publicly available on its website for free with English subtitles without requesting or obtaining permission. This public disclosure of the film is detrimental to the exploitation of the rights by Ricky Rijneke and her international sales agent Elypse Short Film Distribution (www.elypsefilm.com).

RMF refused to remove the film from the internet. Only after the intervention of a lawyer was the film removed from the RMF website.
The film fund infringed copyright by the publication (Articles 31 and 31a of the Copyright Act). According to the legislature, intentionally infringing copyright is a criminal offense.
Copyright infringement is also known as piracy or copyright crime.

Ricky Rijneke is filing a lawsuit to obtain a ruling regarding the intentional infringement of her copyright. She will subsequently seek compensation for the material and immaterial damages suffered.

The first request in July 2009 to remove the film from the web was answered by the director of the Rotterdam Media Fund, Mr. J. van Heijningen, with the remark: 'Dear, don't know what you're talking about. It's not on our website.'
The Chairwoman of the Rotterdam Film Fund, Ms. A. van Leeuwen-Gijsberts, responded to the second request for removal with intimidation and threats of retaliatory measures. After RMF removed the film from the website following a cease and desist letter from a lawyer, the fund issued a number of serious threats once again and attempted to sweep the matter under the rug. Rijneke states that the position of a subsidy-dependent filmmaker is indeed vulnerable, but she does not wish to give in to intimidation.

WING, the fish that talked back is Rijneke's debut film. The film was screened at about fifty international festivals, including the prestigious Locarno Film Festival ('Leopards of Tomorrow' competition), where it had its world premiere. The film received various international awards, including: Best International Short (USA), Prix Du Jury (France), Special Mention, and Best Debut (Scenecs).

Summary WING, the fish that talked back
Six-year-old Wing lives in the Netherlands. Her family comes from China. Little Wing is fascinated by aquatic life and curious about the country she comes from. Fantasy and reality mingle in Wing's story: an old grandma who doesn't want to talk, a few fish, and a cup of tea.
OR:
One day, six-year-old Asian girl Wing gets lost in her fantasy, which takes on strange forms. The events in her world are wondrous, sometimes strange and frightening.

Cast and Crew
Cast: Winola Wong, Kiemlan Tjong, Moon Lee Ho
Direction and Script: Ricky Rijneke - Production: Werkstad Producties - Camera: Benito Strangio - Sound Design: Ranko Paukovic

Source: Werkstad Productions
www.nieuwsbank.nl/inp/2011/02/23/G007.htm



How to respond / more information
You must log in to respond