CBS Drops Lawsuit Against ABC Over Glass House-Big Brother Similarities
The Glass House
CBS has dropped its lawsuit against ABC over its claims that The Glass House is a direct rip-off of its long-running hit Big Brother, TVGuide.com has confirmed.
The Glass House, which premiered in June to 4.18 million viewers, follows 14 contestants as they live together and compete for $250,000. Similar to Big Brother, contestants go head-to-head in competitions and are eliminated weekly. Unlike Big Brother, America has the chance to vote, manipulating different outcomes within the house. The series has only averaged 2.9 million viewers this summer, prompting CBS to drop their lawsuit.
CBS mocks ABC by "developing" fake Dancing on the Stars series
"The viewers have spoken and delivered the ultimate form of justice against The Glass House," read CBS' statement. "As a result, we filed in federal court this morning a voluntary dismissal without prejudice of our claims against ABC. The contract and trade secrets claims against former Big Brother producers for violating their confidentiality agreements will continue separately in arbitration. We reserve the right to re-file this claim against ABC/The Glass House, or any other entity, that goes to such shocking lengths to duplicate our copyright material."
Before ABC's series premiere, CBS sought to prevent its airing, which a judge denied. To bite back, CBS released a mock press release later that month announcing the development of a new show called Dancing on the Stars, a blatant play on ABC's hit competition series Dancing with the Stars.