Injunction order against screening of Cem Karaca’s biopic
ISTANBUL
Discussions continue on the movie "Cem Karaca’nın Gözyaşları” (Cem Karaca’s Tears), featuring the life of the late Turkish musician Cem Karaca.
An injunction has been issued for the movie in the lawsuit filed by his wife, İlkim Karaca, on the grounds that her permission was not obtained for the works used in the movie, which was released on Jan. 26.
Cem Karaca's son Emrah Karaca, who made a press statement about the issue, said: "I hold the 3/4 of the rights to my father's works. This person sold 1/4 of her rights to a music company in 2018. Despite this fact, the film’s producers talked to her, but when her request for 16 million Turkish Liras was not accepted, she became aggressive and did something like this. According to this injunction, if this person pays 3.5 million liras for this project, which has a budget of 90 million, the film’s screening will be halted. Such a guarantee in such a large investment is funny. Will this guarantee cover the damages?”
Stating that they had been going through an interesting process, Emrah Karaca said, “After a wonderful premiere of a film made with a lot of effort, we are truly saddened to be faced with such a situation in the first week of its release. The plaintiff is my father's last wife. His assets and everything were already shared after my father's death. Until 2018, she held 1/4 of the rights to my father's works. This issue is related to my rights. We did not get her permission for the film because she sold her 1/4 rights to Mine Aksu in 2018. His songs were used in hundreds of TV series, movies, documentaries, dozens of commercials and albums. We received payments regarding all of these. This person, who has not caused any problems so far, is now making a claim on this film. She also claims that she was defrauded when selling her rights. There is already another lawsuit regarding this issue.”
Stating that she claimed that she knew nothing about the film,” Emrah Karaca said, “She was contacted by lawyers and producers and asked about the film. However, she demanded 500,000 euros, or 16 million liras, from the producers. Now she is aggressive because this demand was denied. We were truly astonished by the fact that a second expert report was applied for in one day, and the expert report was issued immediately, and this injunction decision was suddenly issued.”
Emrah Karaca showed a DNA report to journalists, reminding that İlkim Karaca had previously claimed that he was not Cem Karaca's son.
“This person had previously claimed that I was not Cem Karaca's son. I also filed a lawsuit against her for compensation regarding this issue. According to the court's decision, I had to take a DNA test. After my father died, she did not let me mourn. Two police officers grabbed my arm and took me to the forensic medicine department. They took blood and hair samples. They also opened my father's grave. They took bone samples from there. What was the purpose of this? The fight for his estate. I have a DNA test report that proves 99.9 percent that I am Cem Karaca's son. This person did not even recognize this report because she is not a normal person,” he said.
Emrah Karaca, who also claimed that İlkim Karaca sold paintings belonging to Cem Karaca and his family, added, “In the house where my father lived, there were three paintings. One was a portrait of my grandmother, one of my grandfather, and one of my father. This person put the paintings up for sale at auction. Although 3/4 of these should have been mine, this woman smuggled them from our house and attempted to sell them. I don't know whether they were sold or not. We have been making efforts for years to make Cem Karaca's songs reach more people. This decision of the court is incredible. The court should have rejected this case directly.”
Cem Karaca, one of the prominent figures of “Anatolian rock,” died on Feb. 8, 2004, at the age of 58. During his lifetime, he recorded 24 albums and performed hundreds of concerts. He was known for his signature felt hat, big brown glasses and long wavy hair.
