Ukrainian Director Wins Legal Battle Against HBO Over Footage in Chernobyl Series

Ukrainian director Andrii Pryimachenko wins case against HBO over illegal use of video in Chernobyl series.

Andrii Pryimachenko, a Ukrainian director, has won a legal case against the American media giant HBO. The case was heard in the Southern District Court of New York and ended in a settlement agreement. The lawsuit was filed due to the unauthorized use of copyrighted footage in the first episode of the miniseries Chernobyl.

This was reported by Mezha.

Background of the case: the video at the center of the legal dispute

At the heart of the case is a recording of telephone conversations between the fire service dispatchers who responded to the explosion at the fourth reactor of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant on April 26, 1986. Pryimachenko had made this video public back in 2013.

In 2019, shortly after the premiere of the Chernobyl series, the director discovered that his material had been used in the first episode without his consent or any acknowledgment of authorship. After unsuccessful attempts to resolve the matter out of court, Pryimachenko filed a lawsuit.

Settlement agreement and its significance for Ukrainian creators

In August 2025, the director announced that an agreement had been reached with HBO. Due to contractual obligations, he did not disclose the details of the settlement, but in a comment to Detector Media, he stated that it involved a one-time financial compensation.

“This is an important precedent, where the copyright of a Ukrainian was successfully defended in a U.S. court in a case against one of the largest media companies in the world,” Pryimachenko emphasized in a post on social media.

EMPR