History and Sci Fi channels to debut dueling 'UFO Hunters' on Feb 6.
By Christopher Rocchio and Steve Rogers, 01/25/2008
The History Channel and Sci Fi Channel are apparently taking the reality
show concept wars to a new level.
In what appears to be an unprecedented scenario, both networks are currently
planning to premiere different reality programs with the same name and the
same subject matter on the same night in the same time period.
The History Channel's UFO Hunters will follow a team from UFO Magazine as
they investigate UFO cases in North America and Europe while Sci Fi
Channel's UFO Hunters will follow a team from the New York Strange Phenomena
Investigators organization investigating their own set of UFO cases. Both
shows are currently scheduled to premiere Wednesday, February 6 at 10PM
ET/PT.
F. Jay Dougherty, a professor of law at Loyola Law School Los Angeles who
spoke with Reality TV World on Friday, said television program titles aren't
copyrightable but can obtain trademark protection -- a move that, rather
than just selecting an alternative name, both shows are attempting.
"Normally, the competitive process would have weeded it out," said
Dougherty. "You tend to work these things out through changing names, or
changing release dates. Normally they kind of work out in the process of
relationships in the commercial world. I'm a little surprised that they're
butting heads like this."
The History Channel, which is billing its program as a "a spinoff from the
network's hit program 'UFO Hunters' which premiered in 2005," filed a United
States Patent and Trademark Office application to trademark the use of the
term "UFO Hunters" in "entertainment services, including an on-going
television series featuring stories about the paranormal, aliens, and
unusual phenomena" and "pre-recorded audio and video tapes and discs
featuring stories about the paranormal, aliens, and unusual phenomena" on
October 31, 2007.
The application, formally filed by A&E Television Networks, The History
Channel's corporate parent, was filed under the "use in commerce" basis -- a
status used in cases in which the filer is claiming to have already used the
term they are attempting to trademark.
The History Channel's UFO Hunters series is being produced by Motion Picture
Production, Inc., the same production company that produced UFO Files, an
anthology documentary television series that premiered on the network in
2004.
In July 2005, The History Channel premiered a UFO Files episode entitled
"UFO Hunters." The DVD edition of the one-hour episode, listed as "UFO
Files: UFO Hunters DVD," is currently available for purchase on A&E's
website. Schedule information available on The History Channel's website
also lists an upcoming February 2 rebroadcast of the program as UFO Files:
UFO Hunters and shows "UFO Files" as the show's title and "UFO Hunters" as
the episode's title.
Sci Fi Channel, which originally announced it had ordered a new UFO Hunters
reality series produced by the producers of its popular Ghost Hunters
reality series last July, filed its trademark application less than a week
after The History Channel's filing.
The application, filed on November 5, 2007 by Pilgrim Films and Television,
the production company behind both Ghost Hunters and UFO Hunters, attempts
to trademark the use of the term "UFO Hunters" with regard to "entertainment
services in the nature of an on-going reality-based television program," as
well as in websites and fan clubs. Since it isn't claiming any prior use
of the term, Pilgrim's "UFO Hunters" request was filed under the "intent to
use" basis.
So far, neither trademark application has been assigned an examiner or
advanced beyond the initial filing stage -- an unsurprising development
given the approval process can take several years.
At first glance, its earlier filing status and (albeit potentially
questionable) history of previous use might appear to give The History
Channel a stronger case, but that doesn't necessarily mean the network's
claim will eventually be granted.
According to Dougherty, it could be difficult for either The History
Channel or Sci Fi Channel to obtain trademark rights since the UFO Hunters
title is a "fairly weak" trademark due to it's "descriptive" title.
"UFO Hunters is a more imaginative title for a work," said Dougherty. "In
other words, it's kind of descriptive what the show's about. I think courts
are a little bit reluctant to make it difficult to use words in a
descriptive way. When you use words that are descriptive, it makes it
harder for you to get exclusive trademark rights in those words."
Nor is the fact that The History Channel is already displaying a "TM" mark
alongside its UFO Hunters title an indication of any already-granted rights.
"Anybody can put a 'TM' next to anything that they intend to trademark,"
Dougherty explained. "[It just indicates] that you are intending to use the
title as a trademark."
When contacted by Reality TV World earlier this week, both networks
acknowledged being aware of the other network's program but stated they were
not aware of any plans to change their own program's title. However
according to a Sci Fi Channel spokesperson reached Friday, the network has
not currently scheduled any additional UFO Hunters broadcasts beyond the
February 6 broadcast of the show's pilot episode.
Somewhat ironically, both the Sci Fi Channel and The History Channel share
some common corporate ownership. Sci Fi Channel is owned by NBC Universal
while A&E Television Networks is a joint venture between The Hearst
Corporation, ABC Inc., and NBC Universal.
While UFO Hunters doesn't represent the first time networks have dueled with
similar reality show concepts, it is certainly the most extreme case.
Last May, NBC announced it planned to air The Singing Bee -- a new reality
competition series that would see how well contestants could accurately sing
lyrics to popular songs in a karaoke-style showdown -- as part of its
2007-2008 primetime programming schedule.
However that changed in June when Fox suddenly announced it would premiere
Don't Forget the Lyrics!, a similar new Bee-like game show that would also
feature contestants trying to win big bucks by correctly completing the
verses of different songs, in July. The Singing Bee ultimately premiered
July 10 on NBC, and Don't Forget the Lyrics! made its debut on Fox the
following night.
That wasn't the first time NBC and Fox raced to premiere shows with similar
formats.
In July 2004, NBC announced plans to move the debut of The Contender, a new
Mark Burnett-created reality boxing show the network had ordered earlier
that year, from midseason to November -- the exact same month that Fox was
planning to debut The Next Great Champ, a The Contender knockoff that Fox
had ordered after losing a bidding war for Burnett's series. Fox countered
NBC's move by moving its Champ knockoff even further up to a September 2004
debut and since The Contender couldn't be ready in time for a September
premiere, The Next Great Champ ended up beating it to the airwaves.
Additional examples include Fox's Trading Spouses and ABC's Wife Swap as
well as Fox's Nanny 911 and ABC's Supernanny.
http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/history-and-sci-fi-channels-debut-dueling-ufo-hunters-on-feb-6-6453.php
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