US court: Filmmaker must surrender Chevron footage
A US appeals court on Thursday upheld a lower court's order that a filmmaker must hand over to Chevron Corp raw footage from a documentary as part of a legal fight over oil pollution in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest.
January 14, 2011 / 19:26 IST
A US appeals court on Thursday upheld a lower court's order that a filmmaker must hand over to Chevron Corp raw footage from a documentary as part of a legal fight over oil pollution in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest.
At stake in the 17-year-old case are USD 27 bn in damages and clean-up costs the Ecuadorean government is claiming from Chevron. Indigenous communities accuse the oil company Texaco -- taken over by Chevron in 2001 -- of damaging their health and environment by polluting rivers.Filmmaker Joe Berlinger had argued that raw footage from his documentary "Crude" was a form of journalism and was therefore protected by press privileges.But the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York, agreeing with a District Court judge, deemed that Berlinger had given up his journalistic privileges because the film was solicited by lawyers for the Ecuadorean government."Crude", released in 2009, chronicles the oil production and legal fights in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest.The film includes interviews from both sides. Chevron has said that the footage could be helpful to the company because some scenes could show instances of improper collaboration between the Ecuadorean plaintiffs and other parties. One scene which has been pointed out in particular by Chevron depicts the plaintiffs taking part in a focus group with a neutral court expert.The lower court had previously ruled Berlinger must hand over 600 hours of raw footage to Chevron.A lawyer for Berlinger was not immediately available to comment.The lawsuit was first brought in 1993 by Amazon farmers and residents. Chevron has said the case is without merit. Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
