Royal Pains - Legal Issues

Legal Issues

On July 6, 2010, Hayden Christensen, the actor best known for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in the Star Wars saga, and his older brother, Tove, filed a lawsuit against the USA Network in a Manhattan Federal Court. In the suit, the brothers claimed to have pitched to the USA Network an idea for a new television series, called Housecall, which involved a concierge doctor who made house calls to the rich and famous. The two brothers also claimed that a USA Network executive told them that, "prior to learning about Housecall, he was unaware of concierge doctors and that he thought it was a fascinating idea." A USA Network spokeswoman declined to comment on the lawsuit. On May 10, 2011, a Manhattan judge ruled that there was not enough evidence to justify a breach-of-contract claim because the claim concerns "materials that are not copyrightable, such as ideas." The decision was reversed on appeal in June 2012, the court holding that Christensens' claims were not pre-empted by copyright law. The opinion stated, "There are several qualitative differences between such a contract claim and a copyright violation claim," and added that sister appellate circuits recently had come to this same conclusion.