Tinna demands answers from Hafnarfjörður over festival

Designer and event manager Tinna Bessadóttir has accused Hafnarfjörður municipality of taking over the Elf Festival she says she created and developed, mbl.is reports. She says the municipality is holding the festival under the same name and with the same basic structure she developed over several years.

In a Facebook post, Tinna said her family had worked on building the festival since 2017, largely without pay. She said the dispute concerned not only the festival’s name but also its concept, content, structure, visual identity, programming and execution.

Offered municipality three options

Tinna said she realised last year where the municipality’s plans were heading and raised objections. She offered Hafnarfjörður three options: continuing to hold the festival in cooperation with her, buying the project from her, or creating a new children’s festival from scratch.

She said the trademark she had used for the festival was subsequently registered with the Icelandic Intellectual Property Office, while Hafnarfjörður continued with a festival under the same name and with the same basic structure, concept and execution that she had developed over the years.

She also accused the municipality of using photographs from her festival, including photographs of her children, in promotional material for its event.

Says she holds rights to the project

Tinna said she later met Hafnarfjörður Mayor Valdimar Víðisson and Árdís Ármannsdóttir, presenting documents about the festival’s origins and development. The documents included written communications with the municipality’s cultural director dating back to 2016.

She also referred to copyright law and outlined the rights she believed she held over the project’s creation and development.

Tinna said the municipality’s managers had been fully informed about the matter and had received supporting documents, but had nevertheless chosen to continue.

She is now demanding a public response from Hafnarfjörður municipality, asking whether it considers its conduct acceptable and where the limits lie when a municipality takes over an individual’s intellectual property and creative work.