Can a producer of the film deprive the creator of this film of audiovisual royalties overnight?

About this case, in which the lawyers of the law firm C.R.O.P.A. are engaged, namely attorney Janusz Piotr Kolczynski and attorney Dominika Sułecka-Tosza, one can read in Polish daily "Dziennik Gazeta Prawna”.

➡️The Public Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw believes that the producer of "Planet single" committed a crime of misleading the Polish Filmmakers Association ZAPA (SFP-ZAPA) and intentionally seized royalties belonging to a screenwriter. The prosecutor’s office has just filed an indictment against him with the Warsaw District Court (case file no. IV K 1148/22).

➡️The case is interesting. Nearly four years after the premiere of "Planet of Single" in 2016, the producer decided in 2020, in retaliation for court disputes, to grant himself and other people without their knowledge all the shares of the author of the original script for the film, Urszula Zofia Antoniak. He considered her to be the source of solely an idea for the film and her input was reduced to the creation of the film title. He also refused to pay out profits for the 2020 remake of "Planet of single" in Lithuania and for the sale of the so-called options for shooting another remake in the USA.

🎥Urszula Zofia Antoniak is a director and screenwriter awarded at numerous festivals in Poland and abroad. She has been living and working in the Netherlands for many years.

📌She decided to pursue her rights in a civil court and in criminal proceedings. She sued the producer, Radosław Drabik,* his company GIGANT FILMS and the biggest Polish private TV broadcaster TVN. She also informed the prosecutor's office about the possibility of the producer committing a crime of misleading SFP-ZAPA and the seizure of royalties.

* The name and surname of the producer were given with his consent granted to the media.