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13 April 2007 / Lindy Golding , Penelope Thornton
Issue: 7268 / Categories: Features , Media , Intellectual property
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Whose format is it anyway?

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Are television rights protectable in the UK? Lindy Golding and Penelope Thornton report

Copyright does not protect general ideas but the expression of ideas (see Designers Guild Ltd v Russell Williams (Textiles) Ltd [2001] FSR 11, [2001] 1 All ER 700). However, in IPC Media Ltd v Highbury-SPL Publishing Ltd [2004] EWHC 2985 (Ch), [2004] All ER (D) 342 (Dec) Mr Justice Laddie recognised the difficulty in  defining the boundary between the taking of general ideas and concepts and copying in the copyright sense.

Copyright protection for television programmes hit the news in November 2005 with the high-profile case brought by Simon Fuller's 19 TV against FremantleMedia Ltd, Simco Ltd, Syco Ltd and Simon Cowell. It involved a dispute about the music talent shows Pop Idol and The X Factor. However, the case settled without any further judicial guidance.

Spotlight on privacy

The rise in the popularity of reality television programmes has turned the spotlight on format piracy. In April 2000 the Format Recognition and Protection Association (FRAPA) was

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