Last week, CBS filed a lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company’s ABC Network, claiming their show Life in a Glass House is a direct copy of CBS’s Big Brother.
In a complain CBS filed, they allege:
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then CBS should take pride in ABC’s latest reality television project. It replicates every key aspect of ‘Big Brother,’ including, among other things, its plot, themes, mood, setting, pace, characters, sequence of events.
CBS claims that several former CBS executives who worked on Big Brother are now working on Life in a Glass House, and that these employees have disclosed company trade secrets and confidential information in direct violation of their non-disclosure agreements. The lawsuit alleges copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation and unfair competition, among other claims. CBS is currently seeking a court order to halt this alleged copyright infringement.
An ABC spokeswoman responded to the lawsuit by saying it “there is no merit,” and says that “The differences between Glass House and Big Brother are both fundamental and obvious, ranging from Glass House’s interactive elements and audience participation to its deployment of cutting edge technologies.
We’ll keep you updated on this case when further news becomes available.
