Posted on

The Glass House vs. Big Brother: The Off-Screen Drama Continues!

The Glass House and Big Brother concluded their seasons months ago, but the drama has not ended off screen just yet. But this time, it’s the ex-Big Brother employees, Corie Henson, Michael O’Sullivan, and executive producer Kenny Rosen now working for The Glass House, who have chosen to fire back, claiming that CBS is using “litigation equivalent of war.” CBS has abandoned the lawsuit, but the three producers are asking the court to stop the network from arbitrating its claims. According to the filing,

“CBS made these allegations as part of its campaign to prevent, or at the very least, disrupt and harass, the production of a new reality show ‘The Glass House,’ which CBS regarded as competitive with its reality show ‘Big Brother.’ Plaintiffs had previously worked on ‘Big Brother’ and then took jobs on ‘The Glass House.’ CBS intended to send a message that former CBS employees who later dared to work for a competing show would be punished.”

The producers claim that CBS knew their nondisclosures while working on Big Brother included arbitration clauses but that CBS neglected that when they sued ABC and The Glass House earlier this summer. When CBS dropped the suit in August, they cited low ratings by the ABC competition. The complaint from the producers goes on to say

“But CBS was not done harassing plaintiffs. On the same day that CBS dropped the plaintiffs from its federal case, it belatedly attempted to invoke the previously ignored arbitration provision in the non-disclosure agreements. CBS’s arbitration demand involves exactly the same claims and same facts upon which CBS sought to build a case in federal court. Moreover, the arbitration demand refers expressly to discovery CBS obtained during the court action.”

It is important to note that ABC, as a network, isn’t included in on this complaint, but rather Rosen and O’Sullivan, as producers of TGH, and Henson, ABC’s president of alternative programming.

Posted on

CBS Drops Lawsuit Against ABC’s The Glass House

Some say this might be long overdue. Others might be surprised to hear this hasn’t already been done, but CBS announced today that they will be dropping the lawsuit against ABC’s reality show, “The Glass House.” But first … there’s a twist.

CBS cited low viewership number of “The Glass House” was the reason they were no longer interested in pursuing the case. The network will, however, continue to pursue claims against the show’s top producers who allegedly violated confidentiality agreements while working on the CBS show “Big Brother.” This motion will continue privately and not in a federal courtroom, as has been the case since May.

Read Our Eviction Interview with Big Brother’s Wil Heuser

From the Associated Press, CBS claimed the show copied “Big Brother” too closely. A judge refused to grant CBS’ request to block the show’s broadcast, saying the unpredictable nature of reality television meant that the two shows were likely to be very different, despite some similarities in their format.

In a statement released today, CBS wrote that “The viewers have spoken and delivered the ultimate form of justice against ‘The Glass House.'”

“The Glass House” has filmed it’s final episode, which will air Monday at 10/9c on ABC. “Big Brother 14” airs Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday nights on CBS.

Posted on

CBS Presses Forward With The Glass House Lawsuit

AP – Los Angeles

CBS still wants to evict “The Glass House” from the airwaves.

The network moved ahead with its lawsuit against ABC this week by amending its filing that alleges ABC copied elements of “Big Brother” for its new reality TV competition series “The Glass House.”

CBS attorneys added several more objections to the show now that ABC has aired several episodes, arguing that “’Glass House’ employs the same plot, themes, mood, setting, pace, characters, dialogue, sequence of events and other concrete elements making up ‘Big Brother.’”

CBS originally sought to stop “Glass House” from premiering in June, but a federal judge refused. U.S. District Judge Gary Feess agreed with ABC attorneys who argued that many of the filming techniques employed on “Glass House” are not unique to “Big Brother” and are used in other reality TV shows.

Both shows employ dozens of cameras to monitor a houseful of contestants vying for a cash prize, but Feess ruled the shows are likely to play out very differently.

Among the similarities that CBS added to its lawsuit this week were that both shows feature an “obligatory older” and “openly gay” player, “showmances” as a plot element and “generally comfortable, cloistered house” environments.

CBS says “Glass House” violates copyrights and trade secrets from “Big Brother” and alleges that dozens of former “Big Brother” staffers and producers now working with ABC on “Glass House” may have violated non-disclosure agreements.

The seventh episode of “Glass House” aired Monday on ABC.

The 14th season of “Big Brother” is currently airing three nights a week on CBS.

A spokesman for ABC said the network has no comment about the updated lawsuit.

ABC lawyers previously said “Glass House” is different because many of the contestants’ decisions, and who remains in the house, are made by audience votes. Only the first season of “Big Brother” allowed viewers to choose which houseguest was evicted.

What do you think? Are you surprised CBS is pressing forward? Should they drop it?

Posted on

Judge Denies CBS’s Request for TRO Against ABC’s Glass House

Update: Judge Feess noted during the proceedings that “CBS has not convinced me that they will succeed in their copyright claims…CBS seeks to protect the idea of a show of contestants in a house where cameras are running…you can’t copyright that…. I don’t know if Glass House will have any effect on Big Brother… It will continue to go forward and be successful.” CBS Scott Edelman says ABC took CBS’s #1 summer show and copied it. Citing Wikipedia as a source showing other shows similar to Big Brother, the judged joked back and said he thought Big Brother was “just Survivor in a house.” Edelman argued, “The voyeuristic feel is the embodiment of the expression of Big Brother and found on both shows.” In regards to the deposition of producer Kenny Rosen, “We thought the record that was developed was extremely compelling,” Edelman said. “We clearly have violations of a [non-disclosure agreement] and violations of trade secrets.” The judge responded, “I am not persuaded the adult appetite of viewers for Big Brother (will change).” He went on with some personal comments, “I thought after one or two reality shows we would never see others. Audience fascination with these shows is well understood even if some of us can’t understand it.” Judge Feess also wanted to note that “The closer we get to nonfiction (programming), it’s more difficult to argue copyright infringement.” It seems networks can still attempt to sue for copyright infringment but that they shouldn’t expect a victory.

ABC has incurred a short-term victory. In the ongoing lawsuit that we have been keeping you updated on, early Friday morning, U.S. District Judge Gary Feess temporarily denied CBS’ request for a temporary restraining order against the ABC series. The Glass House, set to premiere Monday June 18 at 10/9c on ABC, will live on – at least for now. The hearing is still in session, as lawyers from both sides are arguing their points in front of the presiding judge.

Read as CBS Outlines how The Glass House is a Copycat

As we have been reporting, CBS claims that ABC and The Glass House contains private, confidential and copyrighted information from the reality summer hit, Big Brother. ABC denies these allegations, stating that the production values of The Glass House are not trade secrets and that Big Brother is actually a “stale” franchise.

This lawsuit has been clogging the internet since May. Fans of the CBS hit have been hinting at wanting live feeds for the behind the scenes battle in the lawsuit. Sadly, there is no such luck. While the Glass House premiere is just days away, Big Brother is set to hit airways July 12 at 9/8c on CBS! We, of course, are chatting up both shows and more in our FORUMS, so join us! Also, be sure to consider buying your Early Bird Superpass Feeds for Big Brother 14 through the Yak! It’d mean a lot!

Posted on

CBS: “Glass House” Copycat “Conversational Pool/Spa Segment”

Really, CBS? We’re going to get that detailed here? As we near the hearing tomorrow morning in the never-ending CBS v. ABC Big Brother/Glass House battle, CBS didn’t waste any time on Thursday releasing an eleven page document pointing out just how ABC has copied the CBS reality staple. Copyright expert, Jeff Rovin, reviewed Glass House footage from the past few days of live feeds and makes the case that the new ABC reality show is a copycat of CBS’s long running summer hit.

Read The Document (Provided by THR) Here

The claim mentions that everything from camera angles to “conversational pool/spa segments” to hair and set color to drapery and pillow colors is the same as Big Brother. In the document above, Rovin notes that “ABC and its creative team have introduced virtually nothing new in the way of staging, camera work, setting, narrative, wardrobe, or anything else that comprise the expression of Big Brother…Given all the possible expansions ABC could have introduced to the reality television genre, the producers clearly chose to replicate what CBS has spent more than a decade refining and perfecting.”

As we have been covering the live feeds in our YakkityYaks forums since they began two days ago, fans of Big Brother and viewers of The Glass House have been making comments on our site, Twitter and other social media sites. But the action behind the scenes has been much more provocative and entertaining that what we’re seeing on camera. While ABC has moved the cast in, started the game, continues to advertise and is set for a premiere on Monday night (at 10/9c), the ruling tomorrow might have other plans. As we previously reported, the judge is rule on whether or not a TRO will be in effect at CBS’s request.

In the document, Rovin has gone so far in comparing images of a blond woman from The Glass House and specifically Big Brother 10. “From the costuming to the hair color to the set color to the lighting, the look and feel of this clip from Big Brother ten is clearly indistinguishable from Glass House,” he noted about images taken from both shows.

Come tomorrow, we will have more concrete information regarding the fate of ABC’s The Glass House. Until then, we want to hear your thoughts on this whole case? What do you think of the moves CBS and ABC have taken in regards to this lawsuit? Are you tired of hearing about this case? Did you check out The Glass House feeds this week? Sound off below and in our FORUMS!

Posted on

Big Brother 14 vs. The Glass House – The Hits Just Keep Coming

The Glass House has only aired 2 hours of the live feeds and CBS is still not budging. Earlier on Wednesday, CBS made an aggressive move in the never-ending lawsuit and demanded that ABC hand over emails, texts, and many other supporting documents for the series. Filed in the US District Court in California, CBS is asking for all documents from January 1, 2008 to present “CONCERNING ‘Big Brother’ and created in the context of or RELATING TO the development, pre-production, or production of ‘GLASS HOUSE.'” Basically, this would include all of the tweets, texts, emails, facebook posts/messages, and any other means of social media.

CBS is also asking for all series and episode outlines, training manuals, master control room manuals, pitches and other documents relating to The Glass House‘s method of production. The network is additionally asking for blueprints, plans, drawings and other documents relating to direction and set-up of the actual house itself. According to internet reports, ABC already has handed over such things as the Glass House Player Handbook, plans for approved contestant challenges, a detailed floor plan, episode structure, schematics of the master control room and a list of video equipment and media management software.

Big Brother 14 – It’s Rumors Time!

As we previously reported, Producer Kenny Rosen was recently deposed regarding his role, and CBS is now asking that he be called back to answer questions legal counsel initially advised him not to respond to. Rosen initially noted that The Glass House was inspired by The Hunger Games, but later noted similarities to Big Brother.

We’ve been covering this story since CBS filed the suit back in May. The suit asks that ABC and its show be blocked from using any information gleaned from Big Brother, as well as ordering former Big Brother staffers to pay $500,000 each for allegedly violating their previous nondisclosure agreements with CBS. ABC has countered that in explaining that staff followed Rosen from show to show and deny any breaks in previous Big Brother contracts.

CBS has given ABC 48 hours to respond to these requests. ABC of course has noted that this is unreasonable and has rebuked this request. As initially reported by The Hollywood Reporter, “This case is about a television network with a stale franchise — Big Brother — that hopes aggressive litigation tactics will disrupt the premiere of a major competitor’s new, state-of-the-art reality show,” says ABC. ABC went on to say that CBS is not entitled to “additional extremely expedited and highly onerous discovery” and that it will do no good. “This is a red herring. Big Brother has been on the air for 13 years. Everyone in America with a TV has total access to its creative expression. Even if CBS were to obtain evidence tomorrow that every employee at Glass House engaged in a massive conspiracy to copy Big Brother (which, of course, they did not), that would not provide more evidence of access beyond that which CBS already has. Nor would such a confession relieve CBS of its obligation to demonstrate substantial similarity.”

There is a hearing, per CBS’s request, for a temporary restraining order scheduled on Friday June 15 at 9 am. local time.

What do you all think of this never-ending suit? Should CBS cut the fight or keep it going? More importantly, do you think CBS will push the clock and get Glass House off air? Let us know below! We’re also discussing both shows in our FORUMS 24/7!

Posted on

‘The Glass House’ Premieres Live Feeds – A Yak’s Thoughts

ABC’s newest reality television show premiered it’s online component Tuesday afternoon on the show’s official website. If you missed the action, you can get a full-fledged recap in our very first Live Feed Update and Discussion thread right in our forums and get an idea of what the show’s producers had in mind for our first look inside the house and at the contestants. While Twitter and our forums were abuzz with mixed reviews of the hour’s glimpse at the show under fire for being Big Brother-esque, we wanted to take a step back and analyze the good, bad and the ugly from today’s live feeds and suggest ways the viewer experience can be enhanced. You can also let the production team at ABC know how you want them to tackle the show by tweeting your suggestions with #GHTellMeWhatToDo or #PeopleInGlassHouses. Production claims to be reading that timeline very closely. So let’s get right into it.

The Good

BedroomAn Early Look Into The House | While we don’t want to draw comparisons between The Glass House and Big Brother, we do have to point out this simple fact. Giving fans a glimpse of the new houseguests in the house through a live feed almost a week before the television premiere is a stroke of genius. Fans of Big Brother have always complained that a lot of the “good stuff” is missed when we go 7-10 days some seasons before we get any peek inside the house. A lot of the introductions, initial impressions, alliance formations, secret chats are missed when more than a week is squeezed into an hour premiere. Introducing America to the cast before the television premiere was a smart move on ABC’s part to keep itself distinct from the show many are comparing it to.

Getting America Involved | Enhancing the viewer experience is also a noticeable strength of the show. Inspired through instant polls located on the website, America can “vote and view” all at the same time. Watching your votes and thoughts get incorporated into the game is a plus. If ABC’s lucky, this enhancement in the viewer’s experience can make a difference in the show’s reception this summer.

Watching Competitions on Live Feeds | Based on the initial live feed broadcast, those interested in the new ABC show got a glimpse at what might have been the show’s first “competition” of the season. While not much production was involved in this competition, watching the houseguests interact and form opinions without any editing was a plus. Granted, they all followed a group mentality mostly, but we’re focusing on the good, so we won’t go into that.

Video on Demand | ABC’s official Glass House site has uploaded VOD clips containing footage of the houseguests since the move into the house. While we might not receive a 24/7 feed, it’s nice to get clips of the houseguests upon first moving into the house before we get a peek at them during the television premiere. Cool feature. Hopefully we’ll get some game play clips coming on soon.

The Bad

Involving Production on Day 1 | Today was our first peek at the new cast and the new house. They had just moved in. In order for us to get to see their personalities without any kind of production tinkering, it would have been really nice to get a glimpse at their conversations. We can see who is chatting it up with who, what they are talking about, etc. It’s clear that they are probably unaware of what they can and cannot say on feeds, who signed released, what is copyrighted information and such, but production could mute out or switch feeds if those instances arose. Seeing the cast as their normal selves first would have given America more desire to vote in the instant polls later this week.

Live Feed Timing | In all honesty, whoever was in charge of the decision making process of when to air the live feeds online wasn’t thinking clearly. No matter which way you look at it, the majority of America is either outdoors or working during the summertime. 3-4pm EST or Noon – 1pm PST is not an hour of the day where you can pick up social interaction from people you’re trying to target to become fans of your show. Choosing an hour in the evening when people are gathered around, ready to watch television or spend time online might prove to be more effective. The show is supposedly centered around the social interaction from fans, so one would think that choosing a time to garner and build interest would follow. We won’t even go into the fact that fans can access the live feeds during select times each day. It minimizes the viewer experience, no?

A Plethora of Misinformation (Or No Information At All) | Did you even know The Glass House live feeds kicked off today? If not, you weren’t alone. It seemed that fan-made sites, twitter and facebook accounts were better at spreading the word around than the network itself. We know there is an ongoing lawsuit lingering over the show’s future, but until word has been declared, this show is still on. Under that mindset, there should have been more information given through entertainment and media outlets that the feeds kicked off today and that America’s involvement was going to play a huge role. It took up until a half-hour before the feeds kicked off for confirmation from the network to arise on ABC’s twitter account. Those interested even had no idea if the feeds would come through the network’s official site or some other platform or media player. While that is now cleared up, it did not help the kick off event earlier today.

All in all, there were a few pros and cons about today’s The Glass House live feed kick off. Straying from comparisons to Big Brother, what did you all think about the concept? Anything else you’d like to add to the list? Will you be tuning in tomorrow to see if the feeds event is similar? More importantly, will you be tuning in Monday June 18 when The Glass House premieres at 10/9c on ABC! Don’t forget to join us in our FORUMS for on going discussion about everything reality TV this summer and beyond.

Posted on

Inside ‘The Glass House’ – Photos Revealed

With The Glass House houseguests (is that term also copyrighted, CBS?) moving in today as schedule, ABC has revealed photos of the new house where the game will take place this summer. Time is winding down, but CBS is still trying to put an end to the show before it even starts. As of now, Glass House is slated to premiere on the ABC Network Monday June 18 at 10/9c! The live feeds will kick off TOMORROW June 12 (as opposed to originally scheduled June 11) at 3pm EST. Fans will be able to peek at the hamsters in the house made of glass on Monday from 11pm – 3am EST and on Tuesdays – Thursdays from just 3pm – 4pm EST.

Self Proclaimed Yak in the Glass House

ABC has kicked off the live voting on their official website. Head on over HERE to cast your votes! In the meantime, check out the pics below. What do you think of the house? Will you be watching the feeds? Will you catch the show? Let us know below! We’ll also be doing live feed updates for The Glass House in our FORUMS, so be sure to join us!

[nggallery id=33]

Posted on

The Glass House Houseguest Replaced by Holly aka. “Yakety Yak”

That’s right folks! Someone who identifies as a Yakety Yak herself will be in ABC’s new reality series The Glass House, as the houseguests move in this weekend. When we recently announced the cast, there was a houseguest slated for entry by the name of Melissa. Well, Melissa is no more. The freelance journalist from Chicago, IL has been replaced by 21-year old Holly from Detroit, MI, who self-describes as a Yakety Yak. We, of course, couldn’t be happier! Check out Holly’s photo, bio and video below.

CBS Files Emergency Injunction in Glass House Lawsuit

Fans will be able to peek at the hamsters in the house made of glass on Monday from 11pm – 3am EST and on Tuesdays – Thursdays from just 3pm – 4pm EST. ABC will permit LIVE voting starting June 9, while the live streaming will kick off June 11. The show will premiere on the ABC network on Monday June 18 at 10/9c!

America: be prepared to have me enter your lives! My name is Holly a.k.a. Yakety Yak. I live in Phoenix, Arizona, originally born from Detroit, Michigan. My ethnic background is Babylonian; specifically “Chaldean” and I speak Aramaic. I’m passionate about making a difference, one BIG step at a time. While there are a variety of personal things I enjoy and want to do, like travel and have a fulfilling career, I believe that my purpose is to touch others by helping those who are less fortunate. In doing this, I believe I’ll leave my footprint in this world — helping others beyond myself. What makes me unique is that there is not only one of me in this world, but two! I actually have a twin sister and we’re fraternal twins. Having lived in L.A., I am a city girl at heart with a larger than life personality. I exude an infectious energetic quality that people love to be around.

Posted on

Details Emerge in CBS v. ABC Lawsuit, Big Brother Confidentiality Breached?

It’s like the story that never ends. With just days before The Glass House contestants move in and just over a week before the show is set to premiere on ABC, details continue to emerge on the lawsuit CBS has filed against ABC for their Big Brother-esque reality show. As we have been constantly updating fans with details of the court case, we have uncovered more details that have emerged from the deposition that took place Sunday night. Late Thursday night, CBS filed an emergency injunction for the temporary restraining order, yet another attempt to stop ABC from premiering The Glass House. As the presiding judge’s decision won’t come until close to the premiere date of June 18, this was CBS’s last ditch effort at making a big wave.

As we previously reported, former Big Brother and current The Glass House producer, Kenny Rosen, was deposed for seven hours on Sunday regarding his role in the production of the ABC show. During the deposition, Rosen admitted to using a copy of the Big Brother Guest Manual as a draft for a supporting document for The Glass House. As the Big Brother manual is property of CBS (and regarded as confidential information), it appears CBS’s claim might have more to it than initially thought. This may be in violation of the agreement Rosen signed when employed by CBS. Rosen also admitted that he “consulted” the CBS Big Brother Master Control schedule to assess how many helping hands he would need to hire in production for ABC’s The Glass House. Initially, it was believed that no more than 15 former Big Brother employees were on tap for The Glass House, but the deposition revealed that the number might be doubled, in fact.

Rosen stated that the creation of The Glass House began around the time another former Big Brother producer Corie Henson came over to work for ABC. Even further, Rosen also admitted during the deposition that he had purposefully deleted Glass House emails after the lawsuit was filed by CBS. We’ll keep you updated as details continue to emerge.

Fans will be able to peek at the hamsters in the house made of glass on Monday from 11pm – 3am EST and on Tuesdays – Thursdays from just 3pm – 4pm EST. ABC will permit LIVE voting starting June 9, while the live streaming will kick off June 11. The show will premiere on the ABC network on Monday June 18 at 10/9c! Big Brother 14 premieres on CBS on Thursday July 12 at 9/8c!