Lawsuits, copyright, and streaming television, oh my! That’s the drama that recently unfurled in a courtroom. A federal judge has delivered a stunning victory to Goldin Auctions, its founder Ken Goldin, Netflix, and the creators of the reality TV show ‘King of Collectibles’. Evidently, the gavel of justice has ruled out the accusation of copyright infringement launched against them.
This cinematic courtroom battle commenced when Gervase Peterson, known for his stint on reality show ‘Survivor’, threw a legal wrench into the works. He asserted that he had pitched a strikingly similar concept to ‘King of Collectibles’ to Ken Goldin back in 2019. Peterson’s brainchild, christened ‘The Goldin Boys’, was allegedly co-opted, fine-tuned by Wheelhouse Entertainment, and then snapped up by streaming giant Netflix without a whisper of consultation.
At the heart of court deliberations was a tangled web of similarities that Peterson detected between his original pitch and the final spectral creation that appeared on television. Despite early interactions between Peterson and the Goldin team, the line of communication mysteriously went off the grid around the halfway mark of 2020. The plot thickened when a concept suspiciously echoing Peterson’s pitch was seen strutting down the development catwalk not long after.
Bracing up against this onslaught, the defense walked a legal tightrope, pinpointing that the reality show’s core – Goldin Auctions’ operations and Goldin’s private life – revolved around generic ideas that lacked any legal firepower under the Copyright Act.
This viewpoint found an ally in Judge Christine O’Hearn of the New Jersey federal district court. She valiantly stood her ground, asserting that the points of protection put forward by Peterson are often categorized as ‘scènes à faire’ in legal circles – a term that singes out scenes or themes that are calendar regulars in a specific genre, and therefore immune to copyright protection. In the multiple shades of reality TV, this includes the routine of day-to-day business operations showcased in ‘King of Collectibles’.
Digging into the crux of the matter, Judge O’Hearn emphasized that real-life subjects and elements common in reality television often find themselves cast into the river of unprotectability. For reinforcement, she harked back to past legal judgments where related themes have been judged. The verdict’s dismissal pushed into the spotlight the inherent challenge of managing to copyright sweeping themes and concepts that form the bedrock of reality television.
Today, ‘King of Collectibles’ is not only leaping over legal roadblocks with giddy abandon, but it is also charging ahead in the industry, tucking a recent Emmy nomination under its belt. Oh, the sweet smell of vindication! This bullish run revives the time-old debate around copyright laws, their limitations, and complexities, and once again puts the spotlight squarely on the intriguing and dramatic world of reality TV – on and off screen. Discuss amongst yourselves.
