Trivia / Colargol

• Keep Circulating the Tapes / Screwed by the Lawyers: Big time for the cartoon. It was a co-production between French Procidis and Poland's Se-Ma-For animation studio, with the latter holding rights for the Eastern Bloc, while the former elsewhere. However, differences in opinions between Procidis and the right holders of the previously created Colargol operetta (which was used throughout the series to provide the musical score), grew so large that the dispute went to court. It concluded in early 1990s, with Procidis losing not only the case, but also their distribution rights. As such, from that point the show never received any further official airings in former Procidis territories. In Poland (and other former Eastern Bloc territories), the show was still reran from time to time until Summer 2003, when the cartoon was shown for the last time on TVP1. Even though Se-Ma-For's right were limited to Eastern Europe and the show being in copyright limbo in Procidis territories, Colargol was regardless also shown around the world on TVP's international channel TV Polonia until Summer 2002. Unfortunately, the co-production agreement also included the mutual royalty clause (i.e. Se-Ma-For and Procidis shared their profits from the shows), which resulted in the document also being contested in the courts. As a result, Colargol had since then limited exposure even in Poland. An article on Licensing Magazine about Procidis implies the rights issues were finally resolved by March 2023, as the show is going to receive an HD restoration.