An open letter to Mr. Viktor Ivanovich Kryukov, head of the screenwriting agency "AVTOR"
I am sure that few people know that the series "Ordered to Destroy! Operation: Chinese Casket", released in 2009, was filmed from my book "Kill Stalin". Why was I not even mentioned in the credits? I will explain: it was stolen from me. A gang of robbers did it. I call things by their names. What else should one call those characters who stole intellectual property that is worth money? And not a little. A huge labour invested in the writing was stolen. Recognition was stolen, finally!
Who belongs to this criminal group?
A certain Kryukov Viktor Ivanovich, who heads a screenwriting agency. He announces everywhere that the idea and plot of the film are his. And in 2015 he even published a novella based on the film. Hm, six years after the film's release. That is, he seems to have decided to consolidate his position and finally legitimise the robbery.
Another of his accomplices is the film's director, Bobrov Sergey Valentinovich.
The next accomplice is the screenwriter, Bragin Vladimir Evgenyevich.
No doubt a large number of characters were involved in the criminal activity; the producers alone number as many as three! But these are the key ones.
Moreover, I learned of the theft of my work through acquaintances who had read the book. The screenwriter who rewrote my book did not even try to change the storyline. The same characters, the same action, the same development of the plot. Or perhaps he liked everything in the book so much that he didn't bother, passing off what I had written as his own work and brilliant insight! In the film there is the same intelligence school where German agents are trained, the same dialogues in Hitler's headquarters, the same main hero Tavrin, and so on.
Why does this happen in our Russia?
Because criminals feel complete impunity! Because copyright is trampled in the most brazen way!
I wrote the book "Kill Stalin", published in 2006, for quite a long time. But first I gathered the material, bit by bit, and that took years!
At last the book came out. Almost immediately two producers who had done joint projects took notice of it. Then they quarrelled with each other over something. But I had given one of them my word that I would not hand the rights to the book to anyone. The other producer began calling me, together with some woman, and persuading me to give the book to him. I had to explain that I was bound by promises and could not give it away. It would be better if he came to an agreement with his former partner. I advised them to work together.
The last conversation went roughly like this:
"Well, suit yourself!"
And soon the film came out, to which I supposedly have no connection, but in reality the series, from beginning to end, was made from my book "Kill Stalin". Why am I writing about this only now? I'm tired of keeping it all inside. I don't want to think about it any more. I don't want to cover up a crime with my silence. Let others know about it too.
As for the colleagues of the aforementioned characters, I would advise them to keep their wallets, ideas and books as far away from them as possible.
Do I feel better for this letter? Considerably!
By the way, the title of the book "Kill Stalin" was stolen from me by another film company. That was the name given to a film I have no connection with. They ignored my earnest request to change the film's title. And they even somehow justified it legally, sending me a reply.
What suddenly occurred to me....
Right now, on commission from Channel One, a film is being shot about how V. Lenin was robbed in Moscow. About the difficult days of the formation of the Cheka. I have written a whole book on this. The question inevitably arises: "Whose material will our lesser brothers, the screenwriters, use?"