Shapiro Arato Bach Wins Motion To Dismiss All Claims Against Production Company In Copyright Dispute
On July 2, 2024, the Honorable Victor Marrero of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted Shapiro Arato Bach’s motion to dismiss claims of copyright infringement and breach of contract on behalf of firm client Grand Street Media.
Jack Piuggi, the plaintiff in this case, alleged that Grand Street and other defendants conspired to steal his ideas for a reality show, Instafamous, by feeding concepts to HBO before the release of “similarly themed” TV shows Fake Famous and FBOY Island in 2021. Shapiro Arato Bach filed a motion to dismiss on behalf of Grand Street, arguing that Mr. Piuggi failed to plausibly allege infringement or that Grand Street shared any information with HBO and/or other defendants.
Agreeing with Shapiro Arato Bach, the Court held that Mr. Piuggi had “not adequately pleaded ‘actual copying’ or ‘substantial similarity’” between his ideas and HBO’s TV shows. The Court further expressed that the alleged connections between Grand Street, other Defendants, and HBO were “either wholly implausible or amount to little more than ‘speculation or conjecture.’” Moreover, the Court found that the Complaint failed to identify Instafamous’ protectable elements and did “not come close to demonstrating substantial similarity between Instafamous and either of HBO’s TV shows. The Court also dismissed the breach of contract claim. Consequently, the Court ruled in favor of all arguments made by Shapiro Arato Bach on behalf of Grand Street.
The Shapiro Arato Bach team representing Grand Street included Cynthia S. Arato and Jason A. Driscoll. The court’s opinion can be found here.