Get me out of court

The lawyer who ensured that the hit television show 'I'm a celebrity...get me out of here' made it to the screen said this week that the legal status of reality television has now been clarified after a long-running copyright battle over the programme was settled out of court.

Makers of the reality show 'Survivor', Castaway TV, last month withdrew its claim that Granada TV's 'I'm a celebrity...' was a direct copy of 'Survivor's' format.

This comes after a judge in New York rejected similar copyright infringement claims made by CBS - the US makers of 'Survivor' - against ABC, which made the US version of 'I'm a celebrity...'

Jonathan Coad, a partner at London-based media specialists The Simkins Partnership, represented Granada TV in the UK action.

He said the law of copyright was difficult to apply to reality television formats.

'Placing hidden cameras on a set and simply watching the show's participants is not a copyrightable concept in itself,' he said.

'One of the things which made "I'm a Celebrity" distinctive was the witty ad-libbing of its presenters, Ant and Dec.'

The only relevant copyright precedent for a television show which is largely unscripted, said Mr Coad, was 20 years ago when the courts ruled that talent show 'Opportunity Knocks' was not a copyrightable format.

'Since then, television has changed dramatically and if there had been a trial, the court would have had to decide firstly the extent to which the Copyright Act protects the concept of reality television, and secondly whether in this particular case, Granada's show was a copy of "Survivor", 'he said.

The case was settled out of court three weeks ago when the action against Granada was withdrawn.

Victoria MacCallum