CBS Sues ABC Over ‘Big Brother’ Copy ‘The Glass House’
May 11, 2012 |While we wait impatiently for more news on Big Brother 14, we’ve been watching a fun little battle explode between CBS and ABC over an upcoming reality show on ABC called The Glass House. As we reported earlier here on BigBrotherAccess.com, The Glass House is a new reality show with a rather similar premise to Big Brother that will be premiering on ABC June 19.
The announcement by ABC about the new show had barely hit the press before CBS was already threatening them with cease and desist letters. Now CBS has made good on the network’s threat of legal action and filed a federal lawsuit against ABC over The Glass House.
CBS has formally filed a lawsuit against ABC to put a stop to production on The Glass House, which the network says is too close in format to their hit reality show Big Brother. CBS claims in the lawsuit that The Glass House violates its Big Brother copyrights and is being produced with secrets gleaned from former Big Brother staffers.
According to the CBS lawsuit, ABC is guilty of trade secret misappropriation, copyright infringement, unfair competition, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. All of that is a fancy way of saying ABC stole their idea and not only is trying to profit off of it, but is actually putting it almost in direct competition with Big Brother by airing it during the same time of year as Big Brother 2012.
CBS also claims ABC hired at least 19 former Big Brother staff members to work on The Glass House and believes those ex-employees have been busy spilling secrets about the show’s production that are supposed to be protected behind non-disclosure agreements. The show will also reportedly feature the ability for viewers to watch the contestants on live feeds when the show is not on, which has always been one of Big Brother‘s most attractive and profitable features.
“In copying Big Brother, defendants have had an unprecedented and troubling degree of access to CBS’s copyrightable expression, as well as CBS’s protected trade secrets and other confidential and proprietary information related to the behind-the-scenes development, filming and production of Big Brother,” the lawsuit states.
The CBS lawsuit is seeking an injunction against ABC barring continued production on The Glass House. ABC, meanwhile, issued a press statement firmly denying the accusations in the CBS lawsuit.
“The differences between Glass House and Big Brother are both fundamental and obvious,” ABC wrote in press statement, noting The Glass House has interactive and technological aspects not seen on Big Brother.
Stay tuned here for all the latest news and gossip on the upcoming season of Big Brother 14. You can also find us on Twitter at @BigBroAccess and on the Big Brother Access Facebook page or sign up for our Big Brother 2012 e-mail newsletter.
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20 Responses to “CBS Sues ABC Over ‘Big Brother’ Copy ‘The Glass House’”
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I think that CBS is mad at ABC by providing the Fans FREE Live Feeds unlike them that we have to pay every year…☺…
It doesn’t sound like the GH feeds are going to be even close to BB’s if it’s select times of the day which also implies select content. The feeds are the best part of BB and ABC isn’t even getting that right.
yeah Matt, i’ve heard both versions of the Feeds on ABC, thats why i mentioned it…so its a lets wait and see, i guess, lol…☺…
Problem with big brother 24 hour feeds is, you may same amount of money as you always have ut, now they show less if it’s getting too personal or when it’s getting real good. The stupid trivia crap or fish would ome up. So big brother is screwing us all from what we use to get. They say, 24 hour live feeds, BS cause they trivia the crap out of it nw. I personally hope glass house is able to broadcast, will just DVR it and watch it later, then split screen the TV when it’s live feed time.
I think ABC should be stopped and not allowed to do a show that is so very similar to big brother! Those 19 people that used to work for BB who are now working for ABC should be charged with something also. You shouldn’t be able to give away a trade secrets! Yes the feeds make me mad when they cut some things off but thats one thing we just Have to deal with. They have the right to do that so we don’t hear them talking about someone they know that BB does not have permission to talk about. Or sometimes they need to block it out to leave some parts for TV. If some people knew the information they would broadcast it then some people wouldn’t watch the show cause they already knew what was gonna happen then the ratings would go down. Good luck CBS in your fight and I sure hope you win and are able to keep that new show from starting on ABC!
ABC? Who is that? Why can’t they think up something original? They’re not even in my remote. Well a little exaggeration. But I don’t watch much of that channel anyway & that’s a fact.!.!. So how y’all doing?
Porsche won when there was knowone left. She slept all soaesn. What were you watching??? You must have missed the first 7 weeks of the show. Porsche was hardly ever on the episodes except for the live show when they showed everyone. And she wasn’t on any of the shows because she was always sleeping. She didn’t deserve to be on BB at all.
He has a great voice, perfect for niarrtaon. I couldn’t help but think, however, how great it would be if we could garner this kind of passion about our country, its people and what it (in theory) stands for via something more important than football.
First Flash Forward now V. I am sick of ABC cancelling my shows and otehrs as well. I am done with ABC and I will let other people know to. I loved this show it got better every episode just like flash forward. Its odd they kept Lost because everyone I talked to about that show said they stopped watching because it made no sense. I want V back!!! even if someone else picks it up it was amazing. Whats the point of starting a show and stopping it you will lose viewers it happens but when you cut shows you lose faithful viewers.
Get over it CBS. Competition is a good thing. As far as the ex-employees giving away trade secrets, they should be fined & fired by ABC. Next thing we will be seeing lawsuits over shows like 60 mins (CBS) & Dateline (NBC). LAW & Order (NBC) & NCIS (CBS). American Idol (FOX) & The Voice (NBC). The point is you can’t find a completely original show no matter what type of show it is.
one more screw up by ABC they need to get their suff strait
No it was Tony Danza and Andy that didn’t get along. If you watch Man On The Moon (that biography of Andy that wasn’t as good as could have been, due to facts being a bit wrong) you will nctoie that ONLY Tony Danza does not reprise his character Lloyd, Henner, Hirshe, Conway (plus De Vito obviously) all came back to do their characters Tony Danza refused .As HE hated Andy Kaufman.
I am kinda tired of looking at fish for the money I have to pay for BB if someone farts, they censor for copyright issues. Maybe some Competition will get CBS some marbles in their bag. NO MONOPOLIZING ALLOWED IN THE USA. tell CBS how the British feel about CBS stealing all their ideas. do your friggin homework PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great comment!
You can’t really call it stealing when it’s the exact same format from the same production company.
Maybe ABC should sue CBS over The Talk because it’s so similar to The View.
When is The Glass House going to Air on T.V. ?
It will air on ABC June 18th
Thank You do you know the time that it will be on?
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