Joyce Carole Becker-Douglas v Bonnier Books UK Group Holdings Limited & Ors
[2024] EWHC 77 (Ch)
Donna Molavi v Virginia Gilbert & Ors
23 March 2023
[2023] EWHC 646 (Ch)
High Court
A writer sued the BBC for copying her TV show idea. The judge said the BBC show wasn't similar enough to the writer's idea to prove copying, so the lawsuit was dismissed.
Key Facts
- •Dr. Donna Molavi (Claimant) alleged copyright infringement and breach of confidence against BBC Studios Production Limited and the British Broadcasting Corporation (Defendants) regarding the Silent Witness episode "Betrayal."
- •Molavi claimed the BBC copied her five screenwriting works ("C's Works") in their production ("D's Works").
- •The BBC applied for summary judgment, arguing Molavi had no real prospect of success due to lack of evidence of access to her works.
- •Molavi's case relied on inference of copying based on similarities between C's Works and D's Works.
- •The court considered similarities in overall plot and detailed scenes/events.
Legal Principles
To establish copyright infringement, the claimant must show originality of their work, copying by the defendant, and that a substantial part of the original features was copied.
Paragraph 3 of the judgment
An inference of copying can be drawn from similarities between works, but not every similarity leads to such an inference.
Paragraph 10 of the judgment
Copyright infringement and breach of confidence claims stand or fall together in this case.
Paragraph 12 of the judgment
For an inference of copying to be arguable, similarities must go beyond common tropes in storytelling.
Paragraph 23 of the judgment
Outcomes
The BBC's application for summary judgment was granted.
The court found Molavi's claim of inferred copying, based on both plot and detailed similarities, to be unarguable. The similarities were deemed either common tropes or insufficient to establish a reasonable inference of copying.
Molavi's application to amend the Particulars of Claim was dismissed.
This followed from the success of the BBC's summary judgment application.
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