Colombia · Intellectual Property

The daughters of the late Fernando Gaitán, creator of the global telenovela phenomenon ‘Ugly Betty’ streaming rights, are suing over control of the series’ digital future as a new sequel streams on Amazon Prime Video.

Colombia · Intellectual Property

The Legacy of a Global Phenomenon

Fernando Gaitán created ‘Yo soy Ugly Betty’ for RCN Televisión, where it first aired on October 11, 1999. The original series ran for 335 episodes and became one of the most adapted scripts in television history, with local versions produced in markets from India to the United States.

After Gaitán’s death in 2019 at age 58, his daughter Luisa Gaitán has been publicly identified as the family member handling efforts to defend his intellectual property rights. The current legal action targets the distribution of the series on streaming platforms, which generates new revenue streams that were not explicitly covered in original broadcast-era contracts.

To understand why this matters, it helps to know that in many Latin American countries, the standard television production contract from the 1990s often treated a script as a work made for hire. Under that model, the production company retained most or all exploitation rights, while the writer received a one-time fee.

Streaming platforms, which did not exist when these contracts were signed, have since unlocked enormous new value from old catalogues. That gap between the original deal and today’s digital marketplace is what heirs across the region are now asking courts to close.

A New Sequel Sparks an Old Dispute

Amazon Prime Video announced a sequel titled ‘Ugly Betty: la historia continúa’ in July 2023, premiering it globally on July 19, 2024. RCN Televisión produced the show, bringing back original stars Ana María Orozco and Jorge Enrique Abello to reprise their iconic roles.

According to production reports, RCN was described as the rights holder that negotiated and signed the agreement with Amazon to produce and distribute the sequel. This commercial transaction is at the heart of the Gaitán family’s complaint, which argues the creator’s estate is entitled to a share of the compensation from the streaming deal.

The sequel’s launch is significant beyond the courtroom. It demonstrates that a story first told for Colombian television audiences a quarter-century ago still commands global attention.

For a foreign reader unfamiliar with the telenovela’s reach, ‘Ugly Betty’ is not simply a nostalgic title. Its core premise, an intelligent but underestimated woman navigating a workplace obsessed with appearances, has proven adaptable across cultures, which is why the format has been licensed so widely.

That enduring commercial life makes the question of who gets paid, and how much, far more urgent.

The Economic Dimensions of the Fight

The financial figures in the broader legal context are substantial. Reporting by API indicates that one related legal matter involves alleged losses totaling 8,000 million Colombian pesos (about US$2 million), while a proposed deduction in the case record was a much smaller 12 million pesos (about US$3,000), described as ‘laughable’ by the claimants.

For investors and rights holders, the dispute illustrates a critical tension in Latin America’s creative economy. Legacy intellectual property with proven global demand can see its value multiply overnight through new distribution deals, but ambiguous legal frameworks governing digital rights often leave creators’ original compensation grossly misaligned with modern streaming revenues.

The gap between the two figures mentioned in the reporting, billions of pesos in alleged losses versus a deduction proposal in the millions, captures the core disagreement. One side sees a global franchise generating substantial new income.

The other side appears to be applying a valuation logic rooted in an earlier, smaller media economy. A court ruling that clarifies how to calculate fair compensation for digital exploitation could influence contract negotiations well beyond this single telenovela.

Why This Matters for Intellectual Property in Latin America

This lawsuit serves as a high-profile test case for how Latin American courts will interpret pre-digital authorship contracts in the streaming age. Many regional content libraries were built under laws that did not anticipate on-demand global distribution, creating a legal vacuum that courts are now being asked to fill.

Foreign investors and streaming platforms expanding in Latin America should closely monitor the outcome. A ruling in favor of Gaitán’s heirs could establish a precedent requiring platforms to renegotiate rights deals with the estates of original creators, potentially raising the cost of licensing legacy content across the region.

What to watch next is whether Colombian courts treat streaming as a fundamentally new form of distribution or merely an extension of television broadcasting. That distinction will determine if the original contract’s silence on digital rights favors the production company or the creator’s estate.

Also worth following is whether other families of well-known Latin American screenwriters, many of whom signed similar agreements in the pre-internet era, decide to bring their own claims if the Gaitán family secures a favorable ruling. The case may also test how willing global platforms like Amazon are to accept additional royalty obligations for legacy titles, or whether they will instead shift their investment toward newer productions with clearer digital rights from the start.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who created ‘Ugly Betty’ and who is suing?

The telenovela was created and written by Colombian screenwriter Fernando Gaitán. Following his death in 2019, his daughter Luisa Gaitán has taken the lead in a legal effort to defend his intellectual property rights against RCN Televisión and streaming platforms.

What is the lawsuit about?

The lawsuit concerns the rights to stream the original series and a new sequel on platforms like Amazon Prime Video. The Gaitán family claims the creator’s estate is owed compensation from streaming deals that were signed using rights held by the production company RCN Televisión.

What are the sums of money involved in the dispute?

One part of the broader legal dispute alleges losses of 8,000 million Colombian pesos (about US$2 million), while a related deduction proposal was for only 12 million pesos (about US$3,000), an amount the claimants described as insignificant compared to the value generated by the intellectual property.

Sources: API – Cuentas pendientes del creador de Ugly Betty, Fernando Gaitán, La Vanguardia – Prime Video recupera a Ugly Betty dos décadas después, Wikipedia – Yo soy Ugly Betty, Publimetro México – Fernando Gaitán, Ugly Betty: muerte y legado