In a reply brief filed on Tuesday, June 12, the Eye claims it deserves a temporary restraining order because of 'the clear theft and use of CBS's material' done by the Alphabet for 'The Glass House'.
- Jun 13, 2012
AceShowbiz - ABC isn't pulling the brake on promoting "The Glass House" amid CBS' accusation that it rips off "Big Brother". The Alphabet debuted the show's live feeds on Tuesday, June 12 at 3 P.M. which ran for an hour.
Streamed from inside the house, it featured the houseguests answering the same questions which had been asked earlier to online viewers. Additionally, each of the contestants revealed whom they thought the biggest competition in the game. Andrea, who is a 31-year-old mother of three, and Alex, a 25-year-old bondsman, received the most votes (four each). A 33-year-old police officer, Kevin, received three votes.
On the same day the live-stream launched, CBS filed a reply brief in response to ABC's opposition to the former's temporary restraining order (TRO) request. In the court filing, the Eye states, "The clear theft and use of CBS's material, coupled with the admitted destruction of emails, clearly warrants a TRO at this stage."
Regarding the Defendants' claim that putting a halt on the reality show would cause it to suffer "a total loss," CBS says, "ABC's protestations that injunctive relief would harm their business are of no moment because any harm is of their own making."
The Eye further stresses, "CBS is not complaining about the copying of an idea. What Defendants did here was entirely different: They had an extraordinary level of access to Big Brother, used it to produce Glass House, then lifted not just a few of Big Brother's elements, but the entire protectable expression and compilation of them."
U.S. District Judge Gary Fees is expected to issue a ruling this week to determine whether or not "Glass House" can premiere on ABC as scheduled, on Monday, June 18.
