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Loose Lips Sink Ships When Presenting an TV Show Concept
Author: Scarinci Hollenbeck, LLC
Date: January 3, 2014
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Creators of television shows need to be sure to keep their ideas inside a trusted inner circle. If it gets out another network could take their TV show concepts and create their own program.
When informing other people of the concept, television show creators may want to consider having people sign a confidentiality agreement so it is possible to recoup damages if they let their loose lips sink the idea. It is probably a good idea to get an entertainment attorney involved in the process to ensure there are no legal loopholes.
Cases of stolen concepts aren’t highly publicized but they do occur in Hollywood. For example, the Results Group recently accused SyFy and NBCUniversal of stealing the concept for the show Face Off from a pitch meeting. The creators of the show met with SyFy executives who said they weren’t interested in the show based on the confidential materials that were presented at the pitch.
SyFy and NBCUniversal proceeded to create a reality show called Face Off and claimed they already had a similar program in the works before taking the meeting with the Results Group.
Such a situation can be extremely disappointing and frustrating to show creators who put months if not years coming up with a concept. For this reason, confidentiality agreements are essential. These could prove helpful in court when suing for concept theft because the documents show that the people who heard the pitch agreed to keep the idea confidential.
Additionally, show creators may also want to consider sitting down with an entertainment attorney prior to pitching a concept so they are aware of all the options available to protect their idea.
- Industries: Entertainment & Media
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