Format Fortunes – Is There Now a Copyright for the Television Format ?

Written by Ben Challis & Jonathan Coad

Most people who are involved in exploitation, global licensing and merchandising of television programmes know the value of a television format – whether it is Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?, Big Brother, Wheel of Fortune, Pop Idol or Family Fortunes. Licensing formats – where the creator of a format licenses a broadcaster or production company in another territory with the right to produce a version of that format - is a massive global industry worth tens of millions of dollars. However there is also a huge ‘copycat’ industry with rival ‘versions’ of these formats being developed by rival broadcasters and producers. The recent question troubling both the industry and the courts has been whether or not television formats enjoy any legal protection themselves and whether copycats can be stopped.