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One of the most individuals from the new Star Wars movies lost his lawsuit against USA Network. Hayden Christensen (who played the fictionalized version of Darth Vader) and his brother Tove (seriously?) sued USA over rights to the apparently popular show Royal Pains. Hayden and Tove claim they met with USA in 2005 to pitch their idea for a show called Housecall about a “concierge” doctor to fancy-pants Hollywood-types. USA said thanks but no thanks and that was that.
Then, in 2009, Royal Pains, a show about a “concierge” doctor to fancy-pants Northeast Coast-types. The brothers sued USA for stealing their idea. They claim that USA knew when they met that it was a pitch meeting and that the bros intended to sell the ideas or be employed in the production of a series based on the ideas. The suit alleges several causes of action, including unfair competition, but does not include copyright infringement. They allege damages of “millions of dollars”. The Christensens say that USA never mentioned that it had a nearly identical show in development at the same time.
Well, the district court judge held that their claims are unsubstantiated and concern “materials that are not copyrightable, such as ideas.”
The Onion AV Club may have the real scoop:
… we all know the real reason for the judge’s dismissal: Seething hatred of the Star Wars prequels and, perhaps more importantly, knee-jerk reaction to “Tove,” which sounds like the name of a spoiled little Norse prince, his moon-face perpetually covered in scone crumbs and smears of blackberry jam, who tortures stray whelps for his own amusement. “Come to supper, Tove!” Ugh. We’d dismiss it too.