Judge Dismisses ‘Fake Famous’ Idea Theft Lawsuit

A New York choose has dismissed a lawsuit towards Warner Bros. Discovery from a producer, who claimed that he originated an concept for the premise behind HBO‘s Pretend Well-known documentary and Max actuality collection FBOY Island.

The producer, Jack Piuggi, mentioned he shopped a actuality TV present titled Instafamous, which was pitched as “a documentary-style TV present incorporating an underlying faux-dating present competitors” to “expose the superficiality” of Instagram courting tradition.

His lawsuit, filed final 12 months in New York district court docket, alleged that defendants, which embody Good For You Productions LLC, Grand Avenue Media Inc., HBO, and Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc., conspired towards him to create “equally themed” TV initiatives, which resulted in Pretend Well-known and FBOY Island.

Piuggi, whose banner is titled Flipp Productions, introduced claims for copyright infringement, breach of contract and unjust enrichment.

In a July 2 order, U.S. District Decide Victor Marrero dismissed the lawsuit, discovering that Piuggi’s “imprecise and conclusory allegations of unspecified copying are inadequate” to “plausibly plead a considerable similarity between Instafamous and HBO’s reveals at subject.”

The court docket granted Piuggi a chance to repair the claims inside 30 days from July 2.

The grievance concerned allegations that, 19 days after Piuggi pitched the thought for his present to Grand Avenue, HBO launched a trailer for Pretend Well-known. Individually, he claimed that he recommended that Garrett Morosky, who was finally solid on FBOY Island, ought to star in his undertaking.

Piuggi “observed on a number of events, that lots of his ideas for Instafamous had been appropriated by Pretend Well-known,” the lawsuit mentioned.