Choreographer Tamir Golan has sent a pre-lawsuit warning to the production of "Dancing With the Stars," claiming that a routine performed by actress Noa Cohen and dancer Eitan Krips copied one of his original works. The claimed compensation is about 90,000 shekels. The report examined whether such a case could succeed by consulting fashion and intellectual property lawyer Racheli Zilberfarb-Schreiber.
Zilberfarb-Schreiber said the resemblance appears clear and that Golan’s dance likely meets the creativity threshold needed for copyright protection. But she said a court would still have to determine whether the show had access to Golan’s work and whether the creators actually saw it. In her view, because Israel’s choreography industry is relatively small, access would likely be easy to prove, especially if anyone connected to the program followed Golan on social media or liked his posts.
She added that another issue is whether Golan’s choreography was itself original, or whether it borrowed from earlier works abroad. She also warned that Golan may have hurt his own claim by writing in a story that he takes the copying as a compliment. Although she said that was probably meant as a joke, a court could treat it seriously and reject any argument about damage to reputation.
To illustrate the risk, she cited a case in which designer Virgil Abloh lost a $4 million lawsuit against the e-commerce platform Wish after the defense used his own remarks that copying flatters him and gives him more exposure. Zilberfarb-Schreiber said the production had not yet responded, and she welcomed artists asserting their rights publicly. She will lead Israel’s Fashion Conference on July 9, where industry leaders will discuss strategy, branding, marketing, and whether Israel can become a fashion powerhouse.
