2024-01-31 20:26:34
As they prepared to begin rehearsals this February 7 in Rome, the “10 Commandments – The Desire to Love” teams can take a breath. The show carried by Pascal Obispo, in particular, will be able to be performed. Its premiere is scheduled for March 9 in Épernay (Marne), before a Zénith tour and a series of dates at the Seine Musicale, in Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine), from June 5 to 27.
After hearing all the parties on December 7, the 3rd section of the 3rd civil chamber of the Paris Judicial Court, this Wednesday, January 31, rejected the threat of ban that the legal action brought by Elie Chouraqui. Initiator and director of the successful musical comedy of the 2000s “The Ten Commandments”, the artist took a very dim view of the resumption, by Pascal Obispo and his associates, of the songs from the original show, of which the singer signed the music, to build around a unique proposition with new sets, staging, and choreographies.
Damages inflicted on the plaintiff for denigration
A new show often presented in the press as a return of the first. This made Chouraqui jump, according to whom one could not reverse engineer a musical to take only part of it, the songs, especially without asking permission from the authors of this work. He denounced “copyright infringement” and “brand infringement”, “unfair competition” and “parasitism”, while he himself wanted to resume the musical in 2025 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his creation.
He then, with his company 7 Art which exploited the original show, took legal action against the company Comm, producer of “The 10 Commandments – The Desire to Love”, as well as all the co-authors of the time, including Lionel Florence and Patrice Guirao, lyricists of the songs, but also the co-producer at the time, Albert Cohen, who embarked on the adventure of this new show. Chouraqui requested a ban on the show but also multiple requests for damages, more than 400,000 euros in total.
The Parisian court dismissed all his claims, condemning him to pay 10,000 euros in damages to Comm, for denigration, after having been virulent towards this spectacle in the media this fall. Élie Chouraqui and his company 7 Art will also have to pay 35,000 euros under article 700 of the code of civil procedure to SAS Comm, Albert Cohen, Pascal Obispo, Lionel Florence and Patrice Guirao.
Choreographer of the original show, Kamel Ouali, who was involved in the action, will have to pay 5,000 euros to SAS Comm and Albert Cohen. Chouraqui, 7 Art and Kamel Ouali will also have to pay the fees of the opposing lawyers.
“We are obviously relieved,” said Albert Cohen, producer of these new “10 Commandments” this Wednesday afternoon. This decision is excellent for us, but I didn’t have much doubt, he assures us. I was sure of our rights, we don’t commit millions of euros to a production otherwise. Yes, we are very moved to be freed from this threat, I much prefer to be in the courtyard rather than in front of a courtyard, he adds. We are neither thieves, nor crooks, nor embezzlers of intellectual property and the court has just confirmed it.”
“I am appalled by what I discovered and read,” reacts Me Charles Morel, lawyer for Élie Chouraqui. The main reason we took action is not open to a court response, which is whether or not we have the right to use part of a collaborative work without requesting the permission to other co-authors of this work.” The director will appeal the decision.
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