ROME, March 27 (Reuters) - A Disney TV crime
series will return to its original name after an Italian court
annulled a decision that had forced the show to adopt a new
title, the global entertainment giant said on Tuesday.
"Avetrana - This is not Hollywood" is an Italian-language,
fictionalised account of the 2010 murder of a 15-year-old girl
by her family members and of the media frenzy that surrounded
the case.
Before its launch in October, the mayor of Avetrana, the
small town in southern Italy where the crime occurred, took
legal action against the four-part series on the grounds its
name gave the municipality a bad name.
A court in Taranto accepted the mayor's appeal,
provisionally blocking the show's release. It then went on air
after Disney ( DIS ), acting as distributor, and producers Groenlandia
agreed to shorten the name to "This is not Hollywood".
With the full title restored, including the word Avetrana,
"the series finally reclaims one of its founding elements",
director Pippo Mezzapesa said. "The title could not ignore the
name of the town where the events took place," he added.
Last year, film and TV industry representatives criticised
the court decision to halt the series, with the head of the
Italian producers' association APA Chiara Sbarigia calling it "a
serious violation of the principle of freedom of expression".