A judge in New York has dismissed a lawsuit against JENNIFER from a writer who accused her of stealing his idea for a TV series.
Jack Bunick filed suit at the U.S. District Court in Manhattan claiming 2006 drama series South Beach - which was executive produced by Jennifer - was too similar to the plot of a pilot episode he wrote in 1999 for a programme called South Beach Miami.
Bunick named Jennifer, United Paramount Network (UPN) and CBS Television in the suit.
But Judge Richard Berman tossed the lawsuit out of court on Wednesday (30Apr08) declaring there to be inadequate evidence to take the case to trial. The judge also noted that there was “powerful evidence” that the defendants had created the series independently.
Papers filed by Jennifer’s lawyers claimed that although she was an executive producer, she was barely involved in the development and was only brought in at a later stage to “lend celebrity to the show.”
The show was cancelled after just eight episodes following poor reviews and low viewing figures.
Source: contactmusic