{"id":539,"date":"2022-08-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/2022\/08\/26\/netflix-sues-bridgerton-musical-creators-for-copyright-and-trademark-infringement\/"},"modified":"2022-12-20T06:41:06","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T06:41:06","slug":"netflix-sues-bridgerton-musical-creators-for-copyright-and-trademark-infringement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/trademark-infringement\/netflix-sues-bridgerton-musical-creators-for-copyright-and-trademark-infringement\/","title":{"rendered":"Netflix Sues Bridgerton Musical Creators for Copyright and Trademark Infringement"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

\u201cIt seems our diamond requires a closer inspection,\u201d famously says the fictional character Lady Whistledown of Regency-era London\u2019s most beautiful debutante in Bridgerton <\/em>(Season One).\u00a0Bridgerton<\/em>, for the uninitiated, is the Netflix hit series based on historical romance novels by Julia Quinn. Two creative professionals who first came to fame creating Tik Tok videos based on Bridgerton<\/em> have created a diamond of their own, and it\u2019s gotten them into hot water.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, along with their associated businesses, were sued by Netflix in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Capitalizing on their viral Bridgerton<\/em>-based Tik Tok musical videos, the pair staged what was, said Netflix \u201ca massive, for-profit stage show\u2014entitled \u2018The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical Album<\/em> Live in Concert\u2019 to a sold-out audience at the Kennedy Center, with tickets ranging up to $149 each and VIP packages.\u201d\u00a0The concert was on July 26, 2022, and the complaint was filed only three days later.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The hitch?\u00a0According to Netflix, the concert featured lyrics that copied \u201cverbatim dialogue, character traits, and expression and other elements from the Bridgerton<\/em> the series,\u201d and used the BRIDGERTON trademark without permission. In an ad promoting the live show, the two artists prominently featured the BRIDGERTON mark and registration symbol, noting only in fine print (as shown below), \u201cBRIDGERTON is a Trademark of Netflix used with Permission.\u00a0This event is not endorsed or sponsored by Netflix or its partners.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Netflix further alleged that Barlow and Bear had expressly requested a license for a recorded album and charity promotion for which they would engage performers from London\u2019s West End who were unemployed due to the pandemic. Netflix declined to offer the license and although it did not \u201cstand in the way\u201d of either. When the album was released, it was nominated for a Grammy. Netflix claimed that it repeatedly advised Barlow and Bear, including after the Grammy nomination, that live performances of a Bridgerton<\/em>-based repertoire were strictly prohibited and that the London charity event, which was repeatedly rescheduled, would include only a few Bridgerton-<\/em>based songs, and would be a \u201cone-time occurrence.\u201d Barlow and Bear\u2019s representative also advised Netflix that because they did not want to become known only for the Bridgerton<\/em> compositions, they would be moving on to other creative pursuits. In its making of emphasis on the lawsuit of these communications, one can see Netflix\u2019s balancing the popularity of Barlow and Bear with the imperative that it enforces its intellectual property rights. It is a struggle familiar to any intellectual property owner who does not want to alienate its fans and followers by too aggressively pursuing enforcement, particularly where no profit is being made.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

However, when Barlow and Bear staged the for-profit Kennedy Center concert, the line in the sand had, for Netflix, been crossed. Netflix\u2019s claims under copyright allege that the concert is an unauthorized \u201cderivative work.\u201d The right to make a derivative work based on a pre-existing copyrighted work is one of the exclusive rights afforded to copyright owners under the Copyright Act. Therefore, Netflix claims, that The Unofficial Bridgerton\u00ae Musical<\/em> is an unauthorized derivative work that violates its copyrights in the Bridgerton<\/em> series.\u00a0Netflix also alleges that in using its registered BRIDGERTON trademark without its permission, Barlow and Bear infringed Netflix\u2019s trademark rights under the federal trademark law, the Lanham Act.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What will happen next?\u00a0As with the Bridgerton<\/em> series, tune in to find out.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

If you have any questions about this post, or any copyright or other intellectual property<\/a> matter, please feel free to contact me at jhamburg@norris-law.com<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt seems our diamond requires a closer inspection,\u201d famously says the fictional character Lady Whistledown of Regency-era London\u2019s most beautiful debutante in Bridgerton (Season One).\u00a0Bridgerton, for the uninitiated, is the Netflix hit series based on historical romance novels by Julia Quinn. Two creative professionals who first came to fame creating Tik Tok videos based on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":609,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[109,461,325,214,315,27,46],"tags":[462,198,440,463,464,277,465,289,210],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNetflix Sues Bridgerton Musical Creators for Copyright and Trademark Infringement - More Than Your Mark\u00ae<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/trademark-infringement\/netflix-sues-bridgerton-musical-creators-for-copyright-and-trademark-infringement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Netflix Sues Bridgerton Musical Creators for Copyright and Trademark Infringement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cIt seems our diamond requires a closer inspection,\u201d famously says the fictional character Lady Whistledown of Regency-era London\u2019s most beautiful debutante in Bridgerton (Season One).\u00a0Bridgerton, for the uninitiated, is the Netflix hit series based on historical romance novels by Julia Quinn. 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