Last but not least: Hunter of the forbidden Oscar

Specifically, it was about the presentation of the Netflix competitor Myprime. For a fixed monthly price, the new UPC Cablecom service allows unlimited consumption of films, series, documentaries and children's programs on all devices. To create the appropriate Hollywood atmosphere, UPC Cablecom erected man-sized Oscar statues at the media conference in September.

The decoration met with little enthusiasm from the rights holders of the Oscar statue: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts from Beverly Hills mobilized its Zurich lawyer Daniel Marugg. According to UPC-Cablecom spokesman Andreas Werz, his intervention led to an "amicable agreement" with the Academy. The newspaper Schweiz am Sonntag now shows just how amicable this agreement was: UPC Cablecom not only had to buy its way out - as always, the amount was not disclosed - but also had to hand over the statues to lawyer Marugg. The doomed Oscars are now waiting to be destroyed in his law firm in Altenburg.

No special case for Marugg: as the "Oscar hunter" reveals to Schweiz am Sonntag, he has "tracked down and destroyed" no fewer than 80 such statues in the last ten years. Not counting the small plastic statues, of course. Also in the lawyer's sights: Companies that unlawfully use the Oscar name to advertise products.

But there is still a long way to go. Only when the last unlicensed Oscar statue in the world has been consigned to the local incinerator and the last "Father of the Year" Oscar copy has been bulldozed can Oscar hunter Marugg retire. By the way: according to unconfirmed rumors, the destruction of the Cablecom statues will be carried out in public on the Altenburg village square. The public is cordially invited to attend the spectacle and learn from the example set that intellectual property is also property.

Thomas Häusermann

Oscar on teaser image: Keystone / Graphic: hae