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Links: Boxing Reality Shows Take Their Fight to Court
Posted by James Grimmelmann on Wednesday, August 18 @ 17:25:32 EDT Free Expression
The New York Tims has a story today about the latest round in a legal squabble between two boxing reality shows. NBC's "The Contender," from reality-TV prodigy Mark Burnett, isn't happy about competition from FOX's "The Next Great Champ." But since ideas for TV shows aren't copyrightable, as several recent cases have reaffirmed, NBC can't deliver the knockout blow of an injunction against copyright infringement.

Undeterred, however, NBC and Burnett have turned to state law. Claiming that "The Next Great Champ"s producers violated California's boxing regulations -- most notably, relying on unlicensed promoters -- they've asked a California judge to keep it from being aired. The former chairman of the California State Athletic Commission filed a report asking the attorney general to block the show; NBC is trying to do directly what, so far, the attorney general hasn't.

 
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The only thing I'm really wishing for is... (Score: 0)
by Anonymous on Thursday, August 19 @ 16:38:38 EDT
... a permanent injunction against airing *ANY* "reality TV shows." I mean, we already have one about wife-swapping & one where they destroy the poor family's house.

What next? Watch as a normal TV family's life is taken over by an occult cult! See real victims being controlled by the PuppetMaster! Farmer Joe's IncestTV -- watch the animals doin' it doggy-style!

*sigh*

If I can't copyright these, can I patent them as a business method or somesuch? I have no intention of making these, I'd just like to prevent any network executives from making or even contemplating making such utter crap. We're so far below what I once thought was bottom of the barrel that scared to think what new depths of crap they might plumb for the season after this, much less sweeps week.


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Re: Boxing Reality Shows Take Their Fight to Court (Score: 0)
by Anonymous on Wednesday, September 08 @ 19:19:45 EDT
This is a strange result of a society that is very bored. Wouldn't it be nicer if people could make use of what they watch on tv. Maybe they could better themselves instead by learning Computer Training [www.careeracademy.com].


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