In December, Nettavisen could reveal that NRK had reached an agreement with TV 2 about the use of Haralds Eia’s (57) iconic character “Oslolosen”.
It came as a surprise on the state channel when “Oslolosen” appeared in TV 2’s new reality series, “Vinnerschkalle”. The program is led by Petter Northug (38) with help from Eia, who will act as the well-known character.
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The character was first presented in the NRK program “Ut i vår hage 2” in 2008, but has been used extensively by the comedian throughout. However, he was not aware that the character belonged to NRK.
– I actually didn’t think about NRK owning the rights to it. I have used that character several times on stage and in various jobs afterwards, says Eia to Nettavisen.
Come by surprise
It has been 15 years since “Oslolosen” was launched. The general Oslo guide also appeared in sketches in the program “Storbynatt” a couple of years later.
Eia compares the disagreements to the situation of a footballer who develops a trick in one club, and then takes the trick on to another club.
Also read: Harald Eia declines this: – I don’t want to be petty
That it was his former employer who had the rights to the character therefore came as a surprise to him.
– I was taken a little to bed by it. There were many in NRK who didn’t know about it either, but formally speaking, NRK owned it, says Eia.
In connection with “Oslolosen’s” transition to TV 2, entertainment editor at NRK, Charlo Halvorsen, stated that there are different rules and rights for characters who appear on the state channel.
– Some profiles bring grades to us, some do assignments with their own grades and even permanent employees who develop grades in NRK. Such a wide range, he added Journalists.
Unjust
Eia tells Nettavisen that the parties met for a coffee and resolved the problem by the state channel receiving a fee for the use of the character in “Vinnerschkalle”.
– It is not in their interest to stop it. It has been a very straightforward process. It looked a little worse than it was, explains Eia and continues:
– An agreement is an agreement. It was written in the contract from back then, and when Bård and I made those programmes, we didn’t read the contract, we just signed it.
Nevertheless, Eia admits that it stirred some emotions in him when NRK contacted him about the “Oslolosen” transition.
– It was like “Hey, is that right? But seriously, like?” You know, emotions don’t play a big role in such matters, says Eia.
Developed with Thomas Giertsen
Although Eia launched the character while he was being paid by NRK, he had already developed the character in his spare time over several years together with comedian colleague Thomas Giertsen (52).
– It was a character I created when I had to have sound tests before a stand-up show together with Thomas Giertsen. And then my sound test was always to stand and scold Thomas.
According to the comedian, you always imitated people from the East Coast when you wanted to be funny. So Eia decided to make a proper “west edge enema”.
– Then I came to the office on Monday and said to Bård: “I have a guy I think is a bit funny”. Then I kept at it, I actually developed it in my spare time. But it was at NRK that we found the costume, wig and all that, says Eia.