Millions of viewers around the world watch TV formats like Got Talent, Strictly Come Dancing and X Factor. Formats are bought and sold internationally, but many believe that they cannot be protected. Priya Nagpal, Barrister (Senior Associate) in Olswang's Intellectual Property Group, explains how Olswang challenged these views, by bringing together a panel of leading legal and industry experts to compare format protection strategies and to discuss the findings of FRAPA's 2011 Report - which Olswang co-authored.
The speakers included:
David Lyle, CEO of National Geographic Channels and FRAPA co-founder
Dr. Viola Bensinger, Partner, Olswang Berlin
Christine De Keersmaeker, Partner, Olswang Brussels
Pedro Merino Baylos, of Counsel, Olswang Madrid
Paul Stevens, Partner, Olswang London
Priya Nagpal, Barrister (Senior Associate), Olswang London
Toby Butterfield, Partner, Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz New York
Richard Hofstetter, Partner, Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz New York
Clara Steinitz, Senior Associate, Clifford Chance Paris
Excerpt:
"The panel found that format creators had been successful with
copyright claims in some countries and had enjoyed greater success
with unfair competition claims in other countries. Just because one
format is protected in one jurisdiction does not mean it will be
automatically protected in another, but in a global format market,
the value of a copycat format will be significantly reduced. There
certainly is a lot more to protecting a format than copyright."
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