The “Unofficial Bridgerton Musical Album Live in Concert” is facing a Netflix lawsuit for producing the show based on the network’s 2020 show “Bridgerton.” The unsanctioned show by songwriters Barlow and Bear debuted in Washington, DC, at the Kennedy Center. The musical was awarded the 2022 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, and the Netflix show picked up five Emmy Awards. The Netflix lawsuit hopes to bar any further production of the show and prevent further compensation for the concept. Netflix also claims that “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical” hurt the immersive “Bridgerton Experience” developed with Fever that is touring the globe, as it was in direct competition.
“The lawsuit from Netflix claimed that the musical directly copies the television series, citing songs, characters and dialogue had few alterations from Bridgerton, essentially creating a duplicate story without authorization from the streaming service. The musical adaptation also used Netflix’s trademark for advertising, claiming they had received permission when they hadn’t.”
Rosa Leda Ehler, an attorney for Netflix, stated in the complaint “that the musical had created an international brand by taking the intellectual property from the original series. “Bridgerton reflects the creative work and hard-earned success of hundreds of artists and Netflix employees,” Ehler wrote. “Netflix owns the exclusive right to create Bridgerton songs, musicals, or any other derivative works based on Bridgerton. Barlow & Bear cannot take that right-made valuable by others’ hard work for themselves without permission. Yet that is exactly what they have done.”
– Excerpt from an article for Comic Book Resources by Madison Diaz. Read the full article here.
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