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May 4, 2012, 6:09 pm
CBS Threatens ABC Over ‘Glass House,’ a ‘Big Brother’-Like TV Show
By BILL CARTER
Lawsuits over blatant copycatting in reality television have gone nowhere in the past, but ABC may be pushing that record with its plans for a summer show called “Glass House.”
The format is so similar to CBS’s long-running summer series “Big Brother” — and ABC has hired so many former production members from that show — that CBS did not hesitate to send out on Friday what might be labeled a sternly worded legal letter to ABC. The letter implies, without formally declaring, that CBS will sue ABC over copyright infringement.
The CBS letter notes that ABC and the producers “will be acting at their own peril” if they proceed. The letter also said that CBS was “putting ABC on notice that its continued development and production of ‘Glass House’ exposes ABC to liability.”
But CBS notably is threatening only a lawsuit at this point. No substantive lawsuit has ever been won in the cutthroat world of reality television. In one of those unsuccessful lawsuits, CBS took ABC to court over a show called “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here,” which contained many of the elements of the CBS show “Survivor.” (An island, a group competing, people getting voted off.)
But CBS may have reason to believe its case is stronger this time. For one thing, the elements of the new show are, as CBS’s letter puts it, “substantially and strikingly” similar to “Big Brother.” In “Glass House,” which has its debut on June 18, 14 people are chosen to live in a house all summer with cameras on them in pursuit of being the final contestant standing and winning a cash prize — the essence of “Big Brother” competition.
In the past, the cases have proved near impossible for the plaintiffs because, in simple terms, everybody’s reality is inherently different.
In this case, however, ABC has employed seemingly an entire roster of former production staff members from “Big Brother.” These include the top producer (the show runner) of “Glass House,” Kenny Rosen, who spent the last five seasons as co-executive producer of “Big Brother.” Even ABC’s vice president of reality programming, Corie Henson, was a former producer on the CBS show.
The total number of former staff members on “Glass House” is at least 18, according to the CBS letter, all of whom signed nondisclosure letters when they worked for “Big Brother.” The CBS letter argued that it would be impossible for anyone who signed such a letter to help produce such a similar show without breaching the agreement in the process.
ABC had yet to respond to the CBS letter or requests for comment by late Friday evening.
Bill Carter writes about the television industry. Follow @wjcarter on Twitter.
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/cbs-threatens-abc-over-glass-house-a-big-brother-like-tv-show/
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