Although you’d never normally place Daphne Bridgerton and Del Boy in the same sentence, both the Bridgerton and the classic Only Fools and Horses have been the subject of intellectual property disputes in 2022.

Earlier this year, the owner of the rights of Only Fools and Horses was successful in a copyright and passing off claim in the High Court against a themed “dining experience” that included characters and other features of the famous TV programme. The High Court found in favour of the owner of the rights

Similarly, in July, Netflix issued a lawsuit against the creators, Barlow & Bear, of “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical” for copyright and trademark infringement.  Barlow & Bear, which is owned by Abigail Barlow (23) and Emily Bear (20)) rose to fame through their Bridgerton themed TikTok songs in 2020, launched their album on Spotify in 2021 that landed them a Grammy in 2022. 

Even on its own case, Netflix had originally supported Barlow & Bear, but felt that “The Unofficial Musical” breached the line of copyright and trademark infringement as it was for the sole commercial gain of Barlow & Bear. The case was short lived as by early September Netflix announced a settlement with Barlow & Bear.

Both cases demonstrate a move by rights owners to protect their intellectual property rights in TV programmes and the Only Fools case shows that the courts are willing to accept that intellectual property subsists in characters and even “themed” experiences based on a tv programme may give rise to copyright and passing off.