ABC beats out CBS on reality case
Owner of 'Survivor' loses a bid to stop ABC from broadcasting its new reality program 'Celebrity.'
January 13, 2003: 5:27 PM EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday denied a bid by CBS Broadcasting, owner of the popular "Survivor" reality television show, to stop rival ABC from airing a competing television series called "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here."
U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska refused CBS's motion for an injunction after finding that it would be unlikely to prove that "Survivor" and "I'm a Celebrity" are substantially similar.
"I find the concept and the feel of the two shows to be different," said Preska, who spent more than two hours reading her ruling from the bench in Manhattan federal court.
CBS filed the copyright infringement suit in November seeking a court order stopping ABC from airing the show in the United States. Defendants in the suit are ABC, Granada Plc and Granada Entertainment USA. CBS is a unit of Viacom (VIA.B: Research, Estimates) and ABC is a unit of Walt Disney Co. (DIS: Research, Estimates).
In September, ABC and Granada announced an agreement to produce the series called "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me out of Here." The lawsuit alleges that "Celebrity," which was broadcast in the United Kingdom in August, directly copies the "format, look and feel" of "Survivor."
http://money.cnn.com/2003/01/13/news/companies/reality.reut/index.htm
Owner of 'Survivor' loses a bid to stop ABC from broadcasting its new reality program 'Celebrity.'
January 13, 2003: 5:27 PM EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday denied a bid by CBS Broadcasting, owner of the popular "Survivor" reality television show, to stop rival ABC from airing a competing television series called "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here."
U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska refused CBS's motion for an injunction after finding that it would be unlikely to prove that "Survivor" and "I'm a Celebrity" are substantially similar.
"I find the concept and the feel of the two shows to be different," said Preska, who spent more than two hours reading her ruling from the bench in Manhattan federal court.
CBS filed the copyright infringement suit in November seeking a court order stopping ABC from airing the show in the United States. Defendants in the suit are ABC, Granada Plc and Granada Entertainment USA. CBS is a unit of Viacom (VIA.B: Research, Estimates) and ABC is a unit of Walt Disney Co. (DIS: Research, Estimates).
In September, ABC and Granada announced an agreement to produce the series called "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me out of Here." The lawsuit alleges that "Celebrity," which was broadcast in the United Kingdom in August, directly copies the "format, look and feel" of "Survivor."
http://money.cnn.com/2003/01/13/news/companies/reality.reut/index.htm
