CBS cannot get a break from the lawsuits.
Donald Bellisario, creator of the much-acclaimed television shows NCIS and JAG, filed a lawsuit Thursday against CBS Studios demanding he receive compensation for the spinoff NCIS: Los Angeles.
Bellisario’s complaint states that under his contract, he should be given the “first opportunity” rights to have a hand in the creation and development of any show that might spawn from the ones he created. Bellisario believes that would include NCIS: Los Angeles as it has many of the same elements that viewers have come to know from the original NCIS.
The complaint states that, “[NCIS: Los Angeles] scrupulously replicates that which has made NCIS so popular and it does so with near clone-like fidelity to Bellisario’s recipe, thereby capturing the distinctive ‘look and feel’ of NCIS.” The creator is looking for a percentage of the television show’s profits as well as other unspecified damages.
CBS, however, is basically shrugging the lawsuit off, telling TheWrap, “Don Bellisario has no rights to what he is claiming in this suit. The contract is clear, the facts are undeniable and the courts won't need Naval intelligence to conclude that the case has no merit. We continue to honor all of our obligations to Mr. Bellisario under the actual agreement."
It is important to note that Bellisario was fired from CBS in 2007. NCIS: Los Angeles did not launch until 2009.
Categories: On TV
Posted by
Laura on
4/29/2011 12:54 PM