03.09.2026 09:11
Some scenes in the new season promo of the series "Çirkin" (Ugly) broadcast on Star TV, which are similar to the movie "Bergen," have led to a copyright dispute. While the producer of "Bergen" announced that they could initiate legal proceedings, the production company of the series denied claims of infringement. Farah Zeynep Abdullah, who was involved in the controversy, shared a profane follower message after her remark "You forgot the eye patch."
The new season promotion of the series "Çirkin" broadcast on Star TV screens sparked copyright debates due to its similarity to the 2022 film "Bergen." While infringement claims and denials came one after another between the two production companies, famous actress Farah Zeynep Abdullah, who brought the Bergen character to life, joined the debates with a profane message.
FRAME-BY-FRAME SIMILARITY: FROM BACKSTAGE TO THE STAGE The second season's first promotion of the series "Çirkin," starring Derya Pınar Ak and Çağlar Ertuğrul, became a topic of discussion not for its story but for its visual language. Derya Pınar Ak's preparation to take the stage as the character "Meryem" was compared side-by-side with the "Bergen" film on social media.
It drew attention that the sequence of the character preparing at the makeup table, putting on gloves, spraying perfume, close-up shots of the eyes, and walking through the corridor to the stage where the audience is seen from behind the camera almost exactly overlapped with the flow in the "Bergen" film.
COPYRIGHT TENSION BETWEEN PRODUCTION COMPANIES After the similarity spread on social media with comments like "Can there be this much coincidence?", the production company of the "Bergen" film, Orchestra Content, took an official step through its lawyer. The production company, stating that the sequences in question were specifically designed during the script phase and processed down to the storyboard, claimed that the sound design, shooting logic, and created atmosphere were taken from their work. It was announced that if the promotion was not removed from publication, a criminal complaint would be filed for copyright infringement and a lawsuit for material and moral damages would be initiated.
25 Film, the producer of the series, denied the claims and argued that the situation did not constitute an infringement. In the defense made from the company's side, it was stated that images such as a soloist preparing in a casino backstage, getting up from the makeup table, walking through the corridor, and taking the stage are "general narrative forms" used many times in cinema history and Yeşilçam.
PROFANE MESSAGE FROM FARAH ZEYNEP ABDULLAH Farah Zeynep Abdullah, who portrayed Bergen in the box-office record-breaking film, also joined the copyright crisis between the two production companies. The famous actress reacted to the promotion of the Çirkin series, referring to the image used to hide the marks on Bergen's face, with the following response:
“You forgot the eye patch...”
Not limiting her reaction to this message, Abdullah then shared a screenshot on her Instagram story from a follower containing the words "They stole it, f*ck". The actress added the note "similarities are fine but" on top of this image.