ABC's Wipeout-will a lawsuit wipe it out?

[weaklink75]

A lot of people figured this was coming....and I think they might have a legit case...

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'weaklink75\' post=\'199064\' date=\'Oct 6 2008, 08:45 PM\']
A lot of people figured this was coming....and I think they might have a legit case...
[/quote]
The whole buying-of-search-terms thing is pretty damning evidence, since it's basically an admission on ABC's part that there is more than a passing similarity.

The question is whether you can claim infringement just because it's an obstacle course.

[JackSpader]

Against Endemol, yes they will.  ABC's involvement depends on their share of the production.

[Jimmy Owen]

Isn't "Wipeout" just a souped-up version of ABC's "Almost Anything Goes" of 30+ years ago?

[chris319]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'199072\' date=\'Oct 6 2008, 08:56 PM\']
Isn't "Wipeout" just a souped-up version of ABC's "Almost Anything Goes" of 30+ years ago?[/quote]
Gee, ya think?

First, if ABC doesn't have an ownership stake in the show but merely licenses it from Endemol or whomever, where does TBS get off suing ABC? Why weren't ABC and Endemol named as co-defendants?

More to the point, all ABC/Endemol have to do is show that Wipeout is composed of "stock elements" first used on Almost Anything Goes. The "stock elements" concept was used in the landmark Barris-Frasier lawsuit against Goodson-Todman claiming that Bamboozle was a rip-off of To Tell the Truth. G-T claimed their show was being ripped off but wound up as the defendants -- go figure.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'199067\' date=\'Oct 6 2008, 11:49 PM\']The whole buying-of-search-terms thing is pretty damning evidence, since it's basically an admission on ABC's part that there is more than a passing similarity.[/quote]
As Chris (chris319) points out, the legal issues are a whole different matter.  Still, it's not hard to find the utter hypocrisy in ABC's and Endemol's position.  Remember this article?  There was that wonderful quote from the Endemol guy saying "we never even referenced a Japanese game show when we were putting this show together".

/Fear Factor with comedy.  Yeah, right.

[weaklink75]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'199072\' date=\'Oct 6 2008, 11:56 PM\']
Isn't "Wipeout" just a souped-up version of ABC's "Almost Anything Goes" of 30+ years ago?
[/quote]


I thought "Almost Anything Goes" was based on the European format "It's a Knockout/Jeux Sans Frontières"...

And I agree, the search-term buying is gonna be an interesting part of this case (and that's probably why ABC got dragged into this)- When I first heard about the show, I was thinking "Why didn't they just license the formats from Japan, since it's obviously based on it"...

[Jimmy Owen]

Yes, but did TBS ripoff the format of "It's a Knockout"?

[uncamark]

Something else to point out:

For almost 20 years, ABC has been paying TBS a license fee for the use on a series they've always owned of the premise (along initially with some actual material) of a segment of the long-defunct variety show "Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan"--a segment showing funny home videos sent in by viewers.  I think you know which series.  Perhaps ABC will decide that they don't need to give TBS a license fee anymore if TBS is going to sue them for a series that they don't even own (and IIRC, the copyright notice on "Wipeout" is either Endemol or Endemol's dummy corp. "Lock & Key Productions"--not the "Greengrass Productions" dummy that ABC uses on reality shows it owns in whole or in part).

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'uncamark\' post=\'199141\' date=\'Oct 7 2008, 05:34 PM\']--a segment showing funny home videos sent in by viewers.  I think you know which series.  [/quote]
Two and a Half Men?

[Joe Mello]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'199200\' date=\'Oct 7 2008, 10:54 PM\']
[quote name=\'uncamark\' post=\'199141\' date=\'Oct 7 2008, 05:34 PM\']--a segment showing funny home videos sent in by viewers.  I think you know which series.  [/quote]
Two and a Half Men?
[/quote]
But that's not on ABC

So it has to be Lost

[PYLdude]

[quote name=\'uncamark\' post=\'199141\' date=\'Oct 7 2008, 05:34 PM\']--a segment showing funny home videos sent in by viewers.  I think you know which series.  [/quote]

Animals Close-Up With a Wide Angle Lens?

Or its spinoff, Animals Close-Up With a Wide Angle Lens Wearing Hats?

[Joe Mello]

[quote name=\'PYLdude\' post=\'199212\' date=\'Oct 8 2008, 12:08 AM\']Or its spinoff, Animals Close-Up With a Wide Angle Lens Wearing Hats?[/quote]
I've always wondered how they keep the fedora on top of the viewfinder.

[chris319]

For almost 20 years, ABC has been paying TBS a license fee for the use on a series they've always owned of the premise (along initially with some actual material) of a segment of the long-defunct variety show "Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan"--a segment showing funny home videos sent in by viewers.

How do you know ABC is paying the license fee and not Vin Di Bona Productions?

[Fedya]

[quote name=\'uncamark\' post=\'199141\' date=\'Oct 7 2008, 05:34 PM\']
Something else to point out:

For almost 20 years, ABC has been paying TBS a license fee for the use on a series they've always owned of the premise (along initially with some actual material) of a segment of the long-defunct variety show "Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan"--a segment showing funny home videos sent in by viewers.  I think you know which series.[/quote]
What makes this any more original than the photos viewers sent in to Real People?

Not that the Real People segment was in any way original.