For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email or phone 020 3353 3857. Judge Birss reserved judgment until a later date. "The designs in question had been extensively and iteratively developed over a number of years by various third party designers commissioned by the BBC." Accordingly they could not have copied them. She added: "The designers responsible for the Kerwhizz designs did not have Mr Mitchell's designs at any material time. However, the similarities are in reality only at a very superficial level." And indeed on one level there are certain similarities.
Jessie Bowhill, for the BBC, told the court: "This is a case about a designer who, upon seeing characters in a children's TV programme produced by the BBC called Kerwhizz, and noticing certain similarities with his own creations, concluded that they must have been copied. Mitchell is seeking £40,000 a year from the BBC, set against royalties, for the duration of its 50-year copyright. Outside court he told journalists that he had sent the characters to the BBC directly as a proposal package in October 2007, but had been rejected. Mitchell claims the Kerwhizz character "Ninki" was derived from a combination of his two characters Simrita and Jomo, that "Twist" was copied from his character Charlie and that "Kit" is a version of his character Yana. He went on to say that the TV cartoon market is a very lucrative business, with classic hits such as Postman Pat, Teletubbies or Bob the Builder potentially generating "many millions of pounds a year" for the creators.
The live issues relate to infringement, that is the similarities alleged, and access to the designs."
My claim is that these characters were copied from characters created by myself, known as the Bounce Bunch. "The characters in questions are Ninka, Twist and Kit. This is a claim for copyright infringement relating to three character designs which appeared in the CBBC programme called Kerwhizz. Mitchell told Judge Colin Birss QC: "This matter is between myself and the BBC. The corporation argues that the Kerwhizz designers did not access Mitchell's cartoons "at any material time" and the characters bare only a superficial resemblance. They also manage the rights to Beat the Boss, Trapped and The Slammer.Mitchell suggested that the BBC copied the characters – known in the show as Ninka, Twist and Kit – after they were uploaded to his own personal website in 2004.
Set up in 1996 to produce a hugely popular series entitled Samson en Gert (about a kids TV presenter and his pet puppet sheepdog), it has since grown to include a huge production line of children's television output, three theme parks in Flanders and management for several popular-beat combos. The theme is available to buy as a download.įor those of you scratching the old head about the company behind this, Studio 100 is very much Belgium's answer to Disney (if it is possible to build up such an empire). The teams: Ninki and Pip, Twist and Snout, Kit and KaboodleĪll in all, while we probably wouldn't watch it for its own sake, if we were in a room where it was on the telly we wouldn't complain too much. This is only true up to a point, as they may shout "pod mod!" at the appropriate moments and laugh at the child-level jokes, but they're not actually influencing the progress of the show in any way, they're merely providing a soundtrack (and a few cutaway shots) to a pre-recorded show. Actually, the pre-release blurb oversold the show somewhat, suggesting that the studio audience of children (and yes, there is one) would be involved in answering questions and making decisions. Bbc Cbeebies Kerwhizz Game 0 Comments Please scroll dwn to get thm, or go hre for a prview Childrens quiz.The Kerwhizz Kr-westion characters hav their own ty factory.Which of th three terrific tams will find thir way past th many machines SimiIar Content Browse contnt similar to Th Toy Factory Trck. The Shiny Show, Clever Creatures, The Giddy Game Show, Tichpuzzle!), this live action / animation hybrid sees CGI characters competing for advantages in a final race.
Studio 100 for CBeebies on BBC One, 3 November 2008 to (26 episodes in 1 series)Ĭlaimed to be the first quiz for preschoolers (OK, we'll take the bait. Voice cast: Telka Donyai (Kit), Yasmin Garrad (Kaboodle), Alex Velleman (Twist), Jermaine Woods (Snout), Kriselle Basilio (Ninki)