A lawsuit between A&E against rival network Reelz and production company Big Fish Entertainment will move forward after a judge ruled A&E’s suit alleging copyright infringement, trademark infringement and unfair competition against Reelz’s show On Patrol: Live does not meet criteria to be dismissed.
A&E filed a lawsuit against Big Fish Entertainment and Reelz claiming copyright infringement after ... [+]
Last August, after the launch of On Patrol: Live, A&E sued Big Fish Entertainment for copyright and trademark infringement and unfair competition, alleging that though A&E kept ownership and rights to Live PD after it stopped airing in 2020, Big Fish took the concept and made an almost identical show with a different network.
In December, Big Fish Entertainment—which developed both Live PD and On Patrol: Live—filed a motion to dismiss, arguing A&E filed a “meritless lawsuit to profit off a hit television show it does not own” and the elements A&E alleges are copied“unprotectible stock features of police ride-along shows.”
U.S. District Judge Katharine Polk Failla disagreed and wrote in her ruling that “because On Patrol: Live copies nearly every single element in the same manner, coordination, and arrangement as Live PD, the Court does not hesitate to find that the works are substantially similar.”
Failla’s ruling allows A&E to pursue discovery on their claims, and the defendants must respond by July 7; all parties have to file a joint status letter on next steps by July 21.
“A wise man once observed, ‘If you can’t imitate him, don’t copy him.’ The fine line between permissible imitation and wholesale duplication is at the heart of this lawsuit,” Failla wrote in the decision.
A&E canceled Live PD, which was the network’s highest-rated program for years, in 2020 amid protests across the country against police brutality following the murder of George Floyd. In a statement at the time, A&E said the decision came during “a critical time in our nation’s history” and it would “determine if there is a clear pathway to tell the stories of both the community and the police officers” by meeting with communities, civil rights leaders and police departments. Big Fish and A&E decided then, according to the lawsuit, that A&E would “retain exclusive ownership over the rights in Live PD in perpetuity.” But, two years later, Big Fish partnered with Reelz to launch On Patrol: Live, which quickly became that network’s biggest show and featured the same hosts and segments that had been in Live PD.
Reelz’s show has continued to air through the lawsuit, according to Reelz’s schedule, and was given an extra 90 episodes by the network in February, Deadline reported.
A&E’s ‘Live PD’ Lawsuit Can Move Forward, Judge Says (The Hollywood Reporter)
Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss A+E Copyright Suit Against 'Live PD' Successor (Variety)