Last week popular ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary ranked in seven Emmy Award nominations [click here if you missed that].
Now Abbott Elementary creator Quinta Brunson is being sued for copyright infringement...
From Radar Online
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, an aspiring writer, actress and performer named Christine Davis has sued Brunson along with the ABC network who airs the hit sitcom.
In the suit, David accused the defendants of copyright infringement and claims Abbott is a rip-off of her show, This School Year.
“Without [Davis’] permission, license, authority, or consent, [Brunson & ABC] knowingly and illegal used [Davis’] works to create the Abbott Elementary television show.
Davis wrote the script in 2018 and registered it with the United States Copyright Office in March 2020 — a whole year before Brunson’s show debuted.
In court documents, Davis said her show is a television comedy set in a New York City public school. IN her show, the principal hires filmmakers to film a documentary of the school.
In her show, the principal was convinced everything is going well and that the show is well-controlled and that the “teachers and students will adhere to her agents.” However, the teachers, staff and students have their own agenda.
The main character is named Ms. David who is a “young, idealistic teacher hoping to get tenure but also trying to convince everyone that the school needs to be reformed.”
Abbott is a rockumentary style sitcom that focus on a Brunson playing a optimistic teacher that works at a public school with a team of jaded coworkers.
Davis said she took her script to two women named Shavon Sullivan Wright and Cherisse Parks at Blue Park Productions in July 2020. She said she had at least three meetings about her work.
She said they told her ABC and HULU were looking for black, female-led comedies. Davis said Wright and Parks took the show to HULU but no deal materialized.
Davis said ABC then started shooting Abbott in September 2020 with Brunson as the lead and listed as creator.
10 comments:
I’m sure a lot of writers have pitched the studios with school-based sit coms starring a young, inexperienced teachers. The similar subject matter is just a coincidence. Only thing that counts is Quinta’s fabulous execution of the idea.
Hollyweird is a dirty business. They most certainly ripped this lady off.
^What makes you say that? Got receipts? No,you just wanted t open your mouth.
She has a copy write. That is her receipt.
9:01 Bitch go find someone else to have your psychotic breakdown with. We all open our mouths in the comment section so kindly shut the fuck up. Do you actually have anything relevant to say about the topic at hand or you're just looking for attention?
@9:06 She has a copyright but the main thing the series have in common is that they are based at a school and they star a young black teacher. Details are very different. It’s not a unique story line so it’s probably a coincidence.
This show wasn’t funny to me.
The premise seems pretty common though. There would need to be specific character details to prove copyright. It's like when those black women sued about the Matrix, or Chris Rock's Good Hair documentary. You need more than similar concepts to prove infringement. It's not enough that you pitched a concept that may or may not have been presented to a network or writing team for production.
I like Abbot Elementary, but it could've been executed better. The principal is good, Sheryl Lee is good, but everyone else needs to go lol. They need better comedic writers and actors. That guy who played Chris and Quinta aren't strong enough in my opinion. They need a comedian in the ensemble cast - or someone like Jane Lynch - because the principal is the funniest one out of everyone, but she can't carry the entire show.
The suit will fail. ABC might settle just to get her out of their hair but homegirl will never work in Hollywood again. Best of luck.
Call 'em out!
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