Australian producers accuse BBC of stealing their ideas
March 16th, 2011 - 4:35 pm ICT by ANILondon, Mar.16 (ANI): The BBC is facing the prospect of legal action as it has been accused of bearing a strong resemblance to the Australian mockumentary series.
The British comedy series “Twenty Twelve”, narrated by David Tennant, is about
the organisation of the 2012 Oympics in London, which is broadcast on UK television station BBC Four.
The mockumentary stars Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville, as the incompetent head of the “Olympic Deliverance Commission” and also features a cameo appearance from Lord Coe, as chairman of the London Organizing Committee.
According to The BBC, producers of Australia’s most successful comedy shows have accused corporation bosses, including producer Jon Plowman, the former BBC head of comedy and writer John Morton, of stealing their ideas.
They claim that the series is “frightfully similar” to Australian mockumentary series, ‘The Games’, which was set before the 2000 Sydney Olympics. They said that their show dealt with similar issues to Twenty Twelve, including public relations disasters and chaotic preparations.
Rick McKenna, who was involved in The Games production, told that he pitched the idea to BBC bosses shortly after London won its bid for the 2012 games.
He claimed that over following few years they held a series of meetings and phone conferences and swapped dozens of emails on the idea that they would “collaborate” on the project if the BBC accepted it.
The producers of the Australian series have now instructed a team of London-based lawyers to investigate whether the BBC is guilty of plagiarism.
However, The BBC denies these claims. Corporation sources said that it was “very difficult to copyright a situation”.
The source said: “It is a very different show, the only similarities between them are that they are both set around the Olympics.” (ANI)
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