The legal gavel has soundly echoed in favor of Netflix, Goldin Auctions, its founder Ken Goldin, and the producers of the reality series “King of Collectibles,” mercifully laying to rest a copyright infringement lawsuit that has dogged them for some time. The claimant, Gervase Peterson, an alumnus of the survival contest game show “Survivor”, had accused the said parties of crafting and showcasing a show bearing an uncanny resemblance to a concept he had earlier pitched to Goldin way back in 2019.
Peterson claimed his idea, which he had fondly christened “The Goldin Boys,” was mysteriously transformed into a show by Wheelhouse Entertainment and subsequently adopted by Netflix, without his express involvement or consent. The heart of contention was obviously the alarming similarities Peterson saw between the reality show and the concept he had pitched.
The story goes that Peterson initially got the defendants’ attention, but communication mysteriously fizzled out in 2020’s mid-year, and as fate would have it, a show resembling Peterson’s initial pitch sprang up in production shortly after. Despite the rather incriminating sequence of events, the defense remained resolute, asserting that “King of Collectibles,” a show revolving around Goldin Auctions’ operations and Goldin’s personal life, was founded on unprotectable, generic ideas under the auspices of the Copyright Act.
Christine O’Hearn, the New Jersey federal district court judge, wholeheartedly backed this notion, asserting that the elements Peterson sought to protect under copyright had long been classified as scènes à faire in the legal sphere. This legal principle points to scenes or themes generic to a genre and thus renders them unprotectable by copyright law. This means many bread-and-butter aspects of reality TV, such as those showcased in “King of Collectibles”, simply don’t qualify for copyright protection.
In her judgment, Judge O’Hearn emphasized that real-life subjects and typical elements frequent in reality shows are often deemed unprotectable, pointing to past cases where a similar verdict was passed. The judge’s ruling underscores the intricate web of copyright law, highlighting how the protection of broad concepts and themes often used in reality television programming remains a tricky endeavor.
In clearing these hurdles though, “King of Collectibles” seems to be sitting pretty not just in the court room, but also in the entertainment industry. The show has not only managed to hurdle the legal obstacles but has also earned an Emmy nomination, no easy feat in the fiercely competitive world of reality television. It just goes to show that reality TV is, as always, full of unexpected plot twists—both on and off the screen.
