A legal action has been initiated against the film company associated with director Alexei Uchitel. The information surfaced via a Telegram channel known as Zvezdach, which has been reporting on the case with what it describes as direct access to court proceedings and filings.
As relayed by the Telegram channel, National Music Publishing House LLC has brought a civil suit before the St. Petersburg Arbitration Court. The claim targets the director’s film company, Creative and Production Association Rock, seeking monetary compensation in relation to alleged copyright violations. The amount requested is one million rubles, though the exact project or works at issue was not publicly specified in the filing. The court hearing on the matter is scheduled for March 20 and a formal meeting will take place to address the allegations before the arbiter.
In December 2021, heirs of musician Viktor Tsoi reportedly reached out to Moscow law enforcement regarding Uchitel’s film about the iconic songwriter, titled Tsoi. The plaintiffs contend that a contract allegedly signed by Uchitel and a former Lenconcert staff photographer, Viktor Elizarov, may have been forged or altered, with signatures appearing to differ noticeably from an original agreement tied to the Rock studio. The dispute centers on whether this agreement authorized the use of the musician’s likeness or associated materials within Rock’s productions.
Documents in the case indicate that the Rock studio secured rights to utilize the photographer’s image in the context of a film focused on Viktor Tsoi, the leader of the Kino music group. The status of those rights has become a focal point for ongoing discussions about proper attribution and licensing, as the parties have previously been involved in civil litigation over copyright concerns related to this image. The dispute later progressed to a settlement with Elizarov, which resulted in a resolution of one of those earlier claims, but the current action introduces new dimensions to the broader copyright narrative surrounding the Tsoi project.
The matter sits within a larger backdrop of ongoing attention to how archival photographs and musician imagery are licensed for modern film productions. It also interacts with previously reported legal scrutiny involving Uchitel and his collaborators, illustrating the tension between creative work and the protections afforded by intellectual property law. The unfolding case will be watched by industry observers who track how licensing disputes are resolved in Russian arbitration settings and how they may influence similar productions in the region.
Earlier developments in the entertainment sector featured another notable legal note when actor Alexei Panin was sentenced in absentia in Moscow on a separate matter, underscoring a period of heightened publicized legal activity around figures connected to the film community. The current suit adds to a landscape where ownership rights, consent, and the authenticity of signer identities in contractual documents remain central questions for film producers and rights-holders alike. While the parties have not released additional public statements beyond court filings and social media summaries, observers anticipate further details will emerge as the March 20 hearing proceeds and the court reviews the documentation surrounding the alleged infringements and the authenticity of the contracts in question. [citation: Zvezdach Telegram channel reporting on court documents and filings]