Written by Alexander Welham | June 5, 2024
Television, a lot has happened to this marvel since its invention nearly 100 years ago not just in terms of the technology but also what is broadcast or streamed to our screens.
Over the years, many people have either come up with their own idea for a TV format or, came up with an idea a while ago only to find themselves sitting at home watching TV to see their TV show idea being played back to them without their involvement. As a result, the questions asked are always what can I do, or what should I have done to protect my idea?
Ordinarily, ideas in themselves can’t be protected, it’s the expression of the idea can carries protection. Since a TV format is essentially an idea for a TV programme, it is difficult to protect it as copyright works.
Game show formats and reality TV shows, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Clarkson’s Farm, Married at First Sight have been extremely popular not only in the UK, but also internationally. Format rights are therefore important both commercially and creatively and so it is important that some protection be afforded to those that create the. In the UK, there are some ways in which protection in a TV format can be developed, for example:
to name two.
However, there have been quite a few court cases where the format creators failed to establish copyright protection in the formats they pitched to TV studios. Therefore, copyright, on its own, is not always the best mechanism for protecting format rights.
As a result, we recommend using various intellectual property and contractual rights in addition to taking some of the following practical steps to maximise your TV format protections:
If you developed an idea for a TV show or a TV series and you have questions on how best to protect it or if you have any questions on copyright and other intellectual property rights, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@briffa.com or on 0207 096 2779.
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