THE WORLD Madrid
Madrid
Updated Friday, March 22, 2024-18:05
Series The creator of the Ministry of Time project at the BBC denies plagiarism
TV RTVE will ask the BBC for explanations for its new series 'The Ministry of Time', very similar to 'El Ministerio del tiempo'
Although El Ministerio del Tiempo
has not been broadcast on
RTVE
for some time
, last February the series created by
Javier Olivares
once again became news. The
BBC
announced its new series, created by
Alice Birch
(responsible for other fictions such as
Normal People
), and with the name
The Ministry of Time
. The coincidence with the Spanish series was not only in the name.
The coincidences between both series were more than evident in the announcement made by the
BBC
from the title itself to the synopsis of its main plot: "A newly created government department brings together expatriates from all over history in an experiment to test the viability of travels in the time".
RTVE
did not take long to react. "Neither
RTVE
nor the production company that took charge of the production of the series have
granted any license to the BBC or any
production company for the adaptation of
El Ministerio del Tiempo
.
RTVE
will ask the BBC for the appropriate explanations regarding the announcement it made without prejudice. of the rights that assist him in defending his interests," the Spanish entity published on its networks.
A month after RTVE's warning, the Public Corporation has sent a harsh burofax to the
BBC
in which it warns that by making the series, the British network would "infringe copyright" and may "constitute a crime classified as plagiarism." .
According to the burofax, which
Vertele
has had ,
RTVE
warns the British public channel, a member of the EBU like Spanish public television, that they have "no choice but to report this situation", making it clear that "the production and dissemination of the audiovisual work.
The Ministry of Time
, without prior authorization, would infringe the copyright of the original audiovisual work, of which this RTVE company is the full owner. He also adds that "the production and dissemination of this audiovisual work can
harm not only RTVE but also the authors of the original audiovisual work, who have already expressed their concern to RTVE."
In fact, in the burofax
RTVE
reminds the
BBC
of "the cooperation that we have traditionally maintained and enjoyed as public broadcasters in our respective countries and as members of the European Broadcasting Union."
"We have no doubt that this situation must have been caused by a misunderstanding, or that there may be some explanation in this regard, so we ask that you contact us to clarify what happened," RTVE says at the end of the burofax.
The series aired on La 1 for four seasons, between 2015 and 2020, with a total of 42 episodes. In fact,
The Ministry of Time
is not the first time that it has gone through a case like that of the BBC, since in 2017 Javier Olivares and Cliffhanger Tv&Media, the production company responsible for
The Ministry of Time
, had to sue NBC, Sony and co-creators Eric Kripke and Shawn Ryan, for the more than reasonable resemblance of the Timeless series.
After several months of headaches, both companies reached an understanding with a joint declaration of dismissal that put an end to the legal dispute that was currently ongoing.
This entire conflict was generated when the negotiations between
those responsible for
The Ministry of Time
with NBC
to make the American version of the series did not come to fruition. A few months after the negotiations broke down, Timeless was presented with a plot very similar to that of the Spanish series.
"
That NBC
(judicial agreement, it's not an opinion)
and the BBC
(same title and idea) plagiarize you shows how badly we didn't do it with 'The Ministry of Time'
.
I think that being from TVE and public property it would be good if "Someone would have the pride of acting. I don't know... I say, eh...", said Javier Olivares after the announcement of the new BBC series.
However, on this occasion there have not even been negotiations. The British network shared on February 21 that the title was based on
Kaliane Bradley
's debut novel
, which has not yet been published.
The synopsis of the fiction shows that there are many similarities between both productions: "
The Ministry of Time
, a newly created government department, brings together expatriates from all over history in an experiment to test the viability of time travel."
According to the author, her novel, which is published this May, "
is an original work
of fiction." "I have never seen the Spanish television series and the identical titles
are an unfortunate coincidence
," she said last February.