Defendants awarded Summary Judgment in copyright lawsuit over “Love & Hip Hop” show
Recently, Summary Judgment was entered in favor of the Defendants in a lawsuit brought by a production company over the television show “Love & Hip Hop.”[1] The Plaintiffs filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the Defendants alleging that the “Love & Hip Hop” show infringed upon a similar concept that was pitched to the Defendants by Plaintiffs.[2] The Plaintiffs’ lawsuit revolves around a one-page Treatment submitted to the Defendants which outlined Plaintiffs’ concept of having a reality television show based upon the lives of four women married to famous Hip Hop artists.[3] Plaintiffs’ Treatment intended for the cast to include the significant others of rappers DMX and Jim Jones and producers Swizz Beats and Irv Gotti.[4] The parties had signed a written agreement for production of Plaintiffs’ television show, but later terminated the agreement after one of the cast members refused to participate.[5] The Defendants subsequently aired the “Love & Hip Hop” reality show, which prompted the Plaintiffs to file a lawsuit.[6]
There have been six seasons of the “Love & Hip Hop” show but the Plaintiffs’ Complaint only focuses on the first season, which included the significant other of Jim Jones.[7] The Court found that the Defendants did have access to Plaintiffs’ Treatment, but noted that the Plaintiffs still had to prove that the two works were substantially similar.[8] The Court ended up finding that the two works were not substantially similar.[9] The Court noted that the majority of the content in Plaintiffs’ Treatment were general concepts of reality television and did not constitute original or protectable matter.[10] The Court specifically highlighted the fact that there were already several reality television shows depicting the lives of celebrity wives, such as the “Real Housewives” series.[11] As a result, the Court granted the Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment.[12] The result of this lawsuit allows the “Love & Hip Hop” show to continue, pending any potential appeal of the decision by Plaintiffs.
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Daniel Devine, Esq.
Santucci Priore, P.L.
Shareholder
[1] See, 8th Wonder Entm’t, LLC v. Viacom Int’l, Inc., No. 14-cv-01748-DDP-JCG, 2016 WL 6882832 at *1 (C.D. Cal. Nov. 22, 2016).
[2] Id.
[3] Id. at *2.
[4] Id. at *1-2.
[5] Id. at *1.
[6] Id.
[7] Id. at *2.
[8] Id. at *4.
[9] Id. at *4-9.
[10] Id. at *5.
[11] Id.
[12] Id. at *9.