Formats for successful television programmes can generate a lot of money. After a successful series in one country, the rights holder will wish to exploit that success in other countries: for example, the hugely popular TV game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? has been licensed in many different countries and spawned various commercially successful spin-offs.
As a result, it is not uncommon for a successful TV show to generate a certain amount of litigation and on occasion the litigation may take the form of a third party claiming that their copyright material (i.e. a format for a similar show) has been accessed and copied without authorisation by the owner of the broadcast show.
The recent case of Meakin v BBC & Others decided earlier this year dealt with just such a format claim. In that case Mr Meakin asserted that his ideas for a game show, which he had submitted (unsolicited) to the BBC and others, had been used without permission and turned into a game show which the BBC had broadcast.
In order to succeed in his claim Mr Meakin had to establish that:
- the broadcast show was derived from his work; and
- a "substantial part" of his work had been reproduced in the broadcast show.
In relation to point one, there is normally an inference that there has been copying if the alleged infringing work and the original work are similar and the author of the infringing work had access (whether direct or indirect) to the original work.
Mr Meakin duly asserted that there were a large number of similarities between the game show formats and that an opportunity to access his ideas had been available. The BBC and its co-defendants disputed that the various similarities suggested by Mr Meakin justified any inference of copying. They also argued that there had been no access to Mr Meakin's ideas by those developing the broadcast show, who were able to demonstrate how their idea had been developed independently of Mr Meakin.
In dealing with point two, the Court had to grapple with the problem which lies at the heart of TV format claims. Formats are not a separate and distinct category of intellectual property which are automatically given protection: protection comes instead from being able to claim that a format is either a literary, or possibly a dramatic work, which is capable of being protected by copyright. However, while copyright protection prevents the copying of detailed ideas, it does not extend protection to generalised ideas.
This presents a particular problem for TV formats as often various features of a TV format will be of general application – for example, the use of elimination rounds or mounting prize money etc are common features of many game shows. Mr Meakin's claim ran into trouble here as the Court found that the similarities which did exist between Mr Meakin's format and the broadcast show were "no more than general ideas at a fairly high level of abstraction and, moreover, commonplace ideas in the field of television game show formats". As a result the Court was not convinced that Mr Meakin could establish that a "substantial part" of his proposals had been copied – at most all that might have been taken were ideas of general application. Accordingly, Mr Meakin's claim failed and was struck out.
This case highlights the inherent difficulty in alleging a breach of copyright in relation to a TV format as the world of TV formats is replete with general ideas and common themes which are used again and again. This makes it hard to devise genuinely novel formats which do not lean heavily on what has gone before, but at the same time makes it hard to mount a challenge to a format which is successful.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
