Lacuna Pictures, the studio behind the local political thriller film Daulat, publicly revealed on 17 July 2020 that streaming service iflix had not paid the license fee for the film – which was overdue on 1 July.
It added that the movie was funded with the studio’s own money, and it premiered and distributed on the service completely free of charge. Interesting enough, it also appears that Lacuna Pictures isn’t the only party affected, as others have recently revealed to not receive payments from iflix as well.
It’s unfortunate that even when we used our own money to fund our film #DaulatMovie, produce it ourselves because of our love of filmmaking, @iflixMY hasn’t paid the licence fee that’s due to us on 1st July.
As of today, we haven't received any payment from iflix.
— DAULAT (@daulatmovie) July 17, 2020
Although unconfirmed by the organisation itself, a source familiar with the matter told website TwentyTwo13 that the Malaysian Football League (MFL) has taken legal action against the streaming service which the league has partnered together back in 2018. They did not reveal exactly how much the company was sued for, but said that it was “in the millions.” The site added that the source could not reveal too much regarding the case as it has been brought to court.
The next to take legal action against iflix is not an organisation, but an individual. Nicolas Anil is a football pundit and journalist who did social media work for the streaming service since 2018. However, the company has not responded to his payment request since September of last year, which left him no choice but to take the matter to court.
I know there are many other vendors out there related to Malaysian football who have been duped by @iflixMY. For myself, the only way is to go on the offense and pray that justice is served. Thank you for highlighting this https://t.co/ER6wn5sKZj
— Nicolas Anil (@nicolas_anil) July 27, 2020
It was reported back in June that Tencent is now the official owners of the iflix service after the departure of the latter’s co-founders in the same month. While the move may have saved the streaming service from meeting its demise, its new owner revealed that it will not take on the existing debt which is still owed to related vendors.
(Source: Lacuna Pictures / TwentyTwo13 / Nicolas Anil)
