A TV production house yesterday filed a judicial protest against another media production house and the owner of a fitness centre claiming breach of commercial copyrights of a music jingle used in an advert.

The production house, 26th Frame Ltd, filed the protest against Clare Agius Media Productions Ltd and Alan Pace, the owner of Active Zone Health and Fitness Club.

The complainant said that Mr Pace was broadcasting a number of adverts on TV stations that were accompanied by a musical jingle called Closing Score and that this jingle was the signature theme of the television series Pupi – that they created and produced and, as a result, belongs to 26th Frame. The complainant said that Mr Pace did not get permission before the adverts were broadcast to use the jingle for the commercial reasons.

They added that when they asked Mr Pace not to use this jingle in his adverts, he informed them that he was not responsible for the advert’s production but left it in the hands of Clare Agius Media Productions Ltd, and as a result, denied all form of responsibility.

When the complainant approached Clare Agius Media Production, these also denied all responsibility of using the jingle and said that “the Activezone Health and Fitness Club adverts that appeared during the programme Teen Trouble on Net TV between October 2006 and March 2007 included other music and that the company (Clare Agius Media Production) has an original copy of the advert broadcast in the above mentioned time frame.”

26th Frame pointed out that it never gave permission to Mr Pace or Clare Agius Media Production to use or produce the music jingle Closing Score.

They, therefore, appealed to Mr Pace and the production house not to use the jingle anymore and held them responsible for any damages incurred.

Dr Cedric Mifsud signed the writ.