Judge Seems Reluctant to Follow CBS and Block ‘Glass House’ on ABC

The latest effort to stop what appears to be a copycat version of a hit reality show is heading in the same direction all the others have traveled: nowhere.

A judge in Federal District Court in Los Angeles gave a strong indication on Friday that he would not grant CBS a temporary restraining order to prevent ABC from introducing on Monday a show called “Glass House,” which CBS has charged is a blatant copy of its long-running summer series “Big Brother.”

The judge in the case, Gary Feess, started a hearing on Friday by saying he was not inclined to accept CBS’s arguments that it would win a copyright lawsuit against ABC and its corporate owner, Walt Disney. At the conclusion of the argument by lawyers from each side, the judge said he was not granting CBS the injunction request Friday and was unlikely to do so before the start of ABC’s show on Monday. He said he would read the accompanying materials before making a final decision.

CBS, whose executives privately acknowledged disappointment, released a statement after the hearing saying the network would proceed with a suit against ABC, perhaps even seeking injunctions to stop every subsequent episode, even if the judge completed his denial of the injunction request. The CBS statement said:

We appreciate the Court’s continuing consideration of this case and our request for an injunction. Win, lose or draw on the TRO, we fully intend to proceed with our claims against Disney/ABC for copyright infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets over “The Glass House,” which may still warrant more injunction proceedings depending on the content of each episode. At the same time, we will move forward with our individual claims for liability and liquidated damages against any current “The Glass House” producer who violated their “Big Brother” confidentiality agreement.

CBS argues that a former producer for “Big Brother,” Kenny Rosen, broke a confidentiality agreement and relied on a production manual from the CBS show in putting together “Glass House.”

Though the framework of the two shows seems identical — a group of people living in a house all summer, with individuals being eliminated until a finalist wins a prize — ABC emphasized several changes in its format, highlighted by the elimination rule. In “Big Brother,” cast members boot out their fellow players, as in “Survivor,” while in “Glass House” the audience will choose whom to eliminate.

CBS faced an enormous challenge in trying to prevail with a restraining order. Reality shows have been routinely copied, using tiny variations. This has led to several lawsuits, but no restraining orders.

In general, judges have accepted the notion that the ideas behind reality shows are not easily copyrightable, sometimes offering open disdain for the reality genre.

CBS has been especially aggressive in asking courts to stop copycat versions of its reality hits. But it lost a previous case against ABC, when it claimed an ABC reality series called “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” was a copy of “Survivor.”