Netflix sues musical duo over ‘unofficial Bridgerton musical'
Streaming provider accuses pair of blatant infringement in dispute over hit series | Bridgerton | Julia Quinn.
Netflix has filed a lawsuit against a pair of musicians over their alleged infringement of IP associated with the hit series, “ Bridgerton”, through the production and performance of a show based on the period drama.
The streaming provider made the complaint at the US District Court for the District of Washington on July 29.
Created and produced by Shonda Rhimes’ company Shondaland for Netflix, the series is based on Julia Quinn’s bestselling romance novels of the same name set in London during the Regency era.
According to Netflix, Bridgerton was watched by 82 million households around the world by January 2021, and two more seasons are now in development.
After Bridgerton was first released in December 2020, Netflix held that Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, through their company Barlow & Bear, started posting about the series to TikTok. The posts included creating musical compositions based on characters, scenes, dialogue, and plot points from the series.
An international brand
The complaint alleged that, despite repeated objections, Barlow and Bear have taken valuable IP from Netflix’s original “Bridgerton” series to build an “international brand for themselves”.
According to Netflix, Barlow and Bear staged a massive yet unauthorised stage show on July 26—entitled “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical Album Live in Concert”—to a sold-out audience at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.
“Netflix owns the exclusive right to create Bridgerton songs, musicals, or any other derivative works based on ‘Bridgerton’,” said the complaint.
“Barlow and Bear cannot take that right—made valuable by others’ hard work—for themselves, without permission. Yet that is exactly what they have done.”
Commenting on the case, Carl Steele, partner at Ashfords, drew comparisons between the development and similar litigation in the UK.
“It’s an interesting case. Similarly to the Only Fools & Horses case here in the UK, the question is whether Netflix stop someone creating a derivative work (in this case a musical) based on the Bridgerton TV series, which allegedly takes elements of plot, sequences of events, moods, settings and themes from the TV series?"
To respond to the show’s popular appeal, Netflix outlined how it has created a live, in-person event titled “The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience”; is offering Bridgerton-themed merchandise through the Netflix online store and retail outlets; and has released the series’ soundtrack on streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music.
In addition, Netflix also partners with licensees who wish to distribute and sell Bridgerton-themed merchandise, while the streaming provider has also released original music composed for the series as a soundtrack album.
The complaint further holds that Barlow and Bear are not licensees and, therefore, misrepresented to the audience that they were using Netflix’s trademark “with permission”, while Netflix “vigorously objected” to their actions.
The live show, said Netflix, featured more than a dozen songs that copied dialogue verbatim, as well as character traits and expression, and other elements from “Bridgerton”.
Barlow and Bear even promoted their own line of Bridgerton-themed merchandise, argued the filing, as The Kennedy Center performance materials—including the performance programme book, posters displayed at the venue, and the on-stage performance backdrop—were all allegedly branded with the “Bridgerton” mark.
Beyond fan fiction
“In addition to harming Netflix and everyone involved in creating the series, Barlow and Bear’s infringing use of Netflix’s copyrights and trademark may also encourage other third parties to develop derivative works based on Bridgerton without Netflix’s authorisation,” noted the complaint.
“This would dilute the value of Netflix’s copyright in Bridgerton and cause Netflix to incur substantial additional expense in enforcing its copyrights.”
Netflix has also taken umbrage over the duo’s alleged plans to stage another performance of their unauthorised derivative works at the Royal Albert Hall in London, making this a world tour.
“Barlow & Bear’s conduct began on social media, but stretches ‘fan fiction’ well past its breaking point. It is a blatant infringement of IP rights,” said the complaint.
“The copyright and trademark laws do not allow Barlow and Bear to appropriate others’ creative work and goodwill to benefit themselves.”
Netflix is seeking declaratory relief establishing Netflix’s rights, preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, and damages.
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