Rachel_Sandford
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Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi is set to face BBC Worldwide in a court in Rome this Friday, September 23[SUP]rd[/SUP]. According to the BBC, Mediaset, the TV Network owned by Berlusconi's family, is breaching copyright because it plans to air a show with the same format as Strictly Come Dancing (a.k.a. Dancing With the Stars.)
Set to air on Italy's Canale 5 (Channel 5), the show called Baila! is produced by Endemol, whom the BBC has also accused of breaching copyright. BBC Worldwide's lawyers are teaming up with Rai, Italy's public broadcaster, which happens to have an authorised version of Dancing With the Stars that they have been airing for the last six years. Rai has already taken Mediaset to court over the format of their show earlier this year, during which the court asked Mediaset and Endemol to produce an outline of their show.
The Italian television network has claimed that Baila! is not based on Dancing With the Stars, but on a Mexican dance show called Bailando Por Un Seuno (Dancing for a Dream), which is sexier and has racier dance moves. In fact, the Mexican version recently featured a topless dancer. The network also claims that they have a format which “Endemol has guaranteed to be original.”
In a statement made by Pier Silvio Berlusconi last August, the Prime Minister's son said: “It is a dancing talent show with the peculiarity of involving both celebrities and normal people. The dance talent show is a format that works on commercial television everywhere in the world. We certainly wouldn't claim that the only reality format is Big Brother.”
Pier Berlusconi sits as deputy chairman of Mediaset, and while dealing with Rai's complaints earlier this year, announced through official statements that the accusations were without basis as the programme is still in production and no one knows what the final format will look like until it has aired. Pier Berlusconi maintains that Baila! has a different format because it pairs celebrities with amateur dancers, whereas Dancing With the Stars pairs celebrities with professional dancers.
Mediaset also issued a statement to BBC News, saying “This is perhaps the first time in the history of television that an accusation of plagiarism is leveled against a programme that hasn't even yet been broadcast.
“It will be the judge to make the final decision, but Mediaset remains convinced that Baila! is a different programme to the BBC's format and that of Rai's Dancing With the Stars. We simply want the opportunity to show this to the public as well.”
The hearing is set to push through, however. BBC has been very vigilant about protecting it's most successful show; the format of which has been sold to more than 35 countries. Just recently, they also threatened an Argentinian dance show called Bailando Con Le Stelle (Dancing With the Stars) with legal action, and they've also accused Televisa Mexico of breaching copyright.
“BBC Worldwide takes the protection of its copyright extremely seriously,” said a BBC spokesman. “It [Dancing With the Stars] has been named the world's most successful reality TV format and has been licensed to over 35 international broadcasters. It is very important to BBC Worldwide and its international licensees that the format is protected from infringement.”
BBC's Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One and BBC HD and is presented by Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly.
Set to air on Italy's Canale 5 (Channel 5), the show called Baila! is produced by Endemol, whom the BBC has also accused of breaching copyright. BBC Worldwide's lawyers are teaming up with Rai, Italy's public broadcaster, which happens to have an authorised version of Dancing With the Stars that they have been airing for the last six years. Rai has already taken Mediaset to court over the format of their show earlier this year, during which the court asked Mediaset and Endemol to produce an outline of their show.
The Italian television network has claimed that Baila! is not based on Dancing With the Stars, but on a Mexican dance show called Bailando Por Un Seuno (Dancing for a Dream), which is sexier and has racier dance moves. In fact, the Mexican version recently featured a topless dancer. The network also claims that they have a format which “Endemol has guaranteed to be original.”
In a statement made by Pier Silvio Berlusconi last August, the Prime Minister's son said: “It is a dancing talent show with the peculiarity of involving both celebrities and normal people. The dance talent show is a format that works on commercial television everywhere in the world. We certainly wouldn't claim that the only reality format is Big Brother.”
Pier Berlusconi sits as deputy chairman of Mediaset, and while dealing with Rai's complaints earlier this year, announced through official statements that the accusations were without basis as the programme is still in production and no one knows what the final format will look like until it has aired. Pier Berlusconi maintains that Baila! has a different format because it pairs celebrities with amateur dancers, whereas Dancing With the Stars pairs celebrities with professional dancers.
Mediaset also issued a statement to BBC News, saying “This is perhaps the first time in the history of television that an accusation of plagiarism is leveled against a programme that hasn't even yet been broadcast.
“It will be the judge to make the final decision, but Mediaset remains convinced that Baila! is a different programme to the BBC's format and that of Rai's Dancing With the Stars. We simply want the opportunity to show this to the public as well.”
The hearing is set to push through, however. BBC has been very vigilant about protecting it's most successful show; the format of which has been sold to more than 35 countries. Just recently, they also threatened an Argentinian dance show called Bailando Con Le Stelle (Dancing With the Stars) with legal action, and they've also accused Televisa Mexico of breaching copyright.
“BBC Worldwide takes the protection of its copyright extremely seriously,” said a BBC spokesman. “It [Dancing With the Stars] has been named the world's most successful reality TV format and has been licensed to over 35 international broadcasters. It is very important to BBC Worldwide and its international licensees that the format is protected from infringement.”
BBC's Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One and BBC HD and is presented by Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly.
