Marvel Entertainment, the Walt Disney Company, and others are being sued for copyright infringement over the 1990s theme song to X-Men: The Animated Series due to its similiarities to a 1980s Hungarian cop show’s theme, according to TMZ. The similarities between the two themes have been noted before online, and now a representative from the estate of the original show’s composer has reportedly filed a lawsuit.
Zoltan Krisko, representing the estate of the late composer Gyorgy Vukan, has reportedly filed a lawsuit alleging that the X-Men: The Animated Series‘ theme is based on the Vukan’s theme to Linda, a 1984 – 1991 Hungarian cop show. According to TMZ, the lawsuit names Marvel, Disney, Fox, Amazon “and more” as defendants.
Here’s the X-Men: The Animated Series theme, credited to composer Ron Wasserman from 1992:
And here’s Vukan’s Linda theme, reportedly copyrighted back in 1983.
According to TMZ, the lawsuit alleges “all the success the [X-Men: The Animated Series] franchise achieved for Marvel and many other companies is a result of that iconic [song] and, as he claims, stolen theme song.”