The Fox network has a history with legal problems when it comes to other networks accusing them of stealing or copying their ideas. In ’04, ABC sued Fox over the resemblance ‘Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy’ shared with ABC’s hit show ‘Wife Swap’. And though ABC never sued Fox for the obvious ‘Supernanny’ rip-off (Fox’s ‘Nanny 911’), it was pretty clear that the idea was stolen, or at least “borrowed”. Now a group of people is claiming that Fox stole their idea for ‘So You Think You Can Dance’.
John Cassese, Maria Lamagra, Brian Nelson and Mark Wolfe are suing the Fox Network for stealing their idea for the show. They claim they registered the idea with The Writers Guild of America in ’03 and pitched it to Martin Erlichman Associates. After they met with the producers at Fox they claim the producers cut them off and they never heard from them again.
In June of last year when they learned Fox would be airing a show that was described to be pretty much the exact same show they pitched (it even had the same name) they realized they’d been ripped off. Now into its second season, while the show certainly hasn’t hit ‘American Idol’ status in the ratings, it has a growing number of fans. I expect some of that had to do with the auditions episodes this year, which featured a girl puking over the side of the stage.
