Protecting Reality TV Formats

The biggest obstacles to protection under copyright are these: First, reality programs do not exhibit preordained elements like plot, themes, mood, setting, pace, characters and sequences of events. Second, the basic elements of reality shows, such as a contrived environment, dynamic participants, competitions, elimination rounds, prizes, and a story that unfolds without a script, are commonplace and unprotectable. Third, the overlay of a particular context in which these elements play out ' such as a corporate hierarchy, a jungle, a gym, or a houseful of young roommates ' is merely a concept and for that reason, not protectable under copyright, either.

In a number of California cases over the last decade, courts have addressed these issues with dismal results for plaintiffs complaining of infringement. Recently, CBS Broadcasting v. American Broadcasting Companies Inc., 12-04073 (C.D.Calif. 2012), involved CBS's 12-year-old Big Brother and ABC's new series The Glass House. The case received a good deal of publicity in the early summer when CBS sought a temporary restraining order to stop ABC from broadcasting its first episode. CBS drew attention not only to the shows' striking similarities, but also to the alleged use of secret Big Brother production techniques by key creative personnel who allegedly were “poached” from the earlier show's production team.