For any kid who grew up in the 90s, the X-Men animated series was one of the best cartoons on TV and the show’s theme song was one of the most epic pieces of music ever created. Now, Deadline is reporting that a new lawsuit alleges that it wasn’t so much created as much as it was stolen.
According to the report, the show, which ended 22 years ago stole the music for its iconic opening theme from a 1980’s Hungarian TV series called Linda. Now, Zoltan Krisko, the man who says he represents the estate of the late composer of the music, Gycory Vukan, is suing Marvel, Disney’s Buena Vista Television, Amazon, Apple, Haim Saban, and others.
‘Linda’ was a popular Hungarian TV series that ran from 1984-1991. According to the lawsuit, there’s no way that this could be a simple mistake as the music was “a household name in Hungary and an entire country could identify the series through its iconic soundtrack.”
The suit goes on to claim that the X-Men theme is substantially similar to the Linda theme, resulting in a violation of Vukan’s original copyrighted work. We have to admit, other than some minor tempo changes, the melody is nearly identical.
The suit goes on to claim that the soundtrack of the animated series was instrumental in helping grow the X-Men into a multi-billion dollar film franchise.
The following statement is speculation and opinion – We are dealing with a lawyer in Florida who is representing himself in a legal action on behalf of a dead man. It sounds very much like this could be a case of someone buying up old copyrights (in this case, to Linda) and has now found a way to monetize that investment in the same way that patent or content trolls do. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have a case. It just puts a sketchy overtone on the affair.
In the meantime, if Composer Ron Wasserman did steal the melody for the X-Men animated theme song, he’s about to be in a world of hurt. As a side note, Wasserman wasn’t a theme song one hit wonder. Still working today, he composed the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers theme, as well as the background music for shows as varied as Hot In Cleveland and Dragon Ball Z.
Now, listen to the theme from Linda and then listen to the X-Men theme. You decide.
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