Judge Rejects Copyright Claim Against New Girl

Fans of hit TV series "New Girl" are ready to celebrate today as news about the ongoing copyright claims have been rejected by a federal judge. For the past two years, the creators of the TV series faced legal proceedings on a claim that the show was actually lifted from a screenplay by Stephanie Counts and Shari Gold entitled, "Square One." Creator Elizabeth Meriwether faced these court hearings together with Fox, WME Entertainment, Peter Chernin, and other individuals.

Just before New Year's Day, US District Judge Stephen Wilson concluded that the plaintiffs were unable to provide enough evidence to prove that the defendants were able to get their hands on the screenplay script. Additionally, the judge ruled that even if the defendants were able to access the script, there was still the issue of "substantial similarity" between the two shows. Moreover, before idea theft cases can be considered, this is something that needs to be met.

Both Counts and Gold claimed that they had earlier written a TV script that was based on the experiences of Counts after she had separated from her husband and had moved into a bachelor pad with three men as her roommate. Based on this life experience, they wrote a feature-length screenplay and tried to get the approval of production companies, talents and agents. During the case, the two writers claimed they had submitted the screenplay to WME agents Adam Venit and David Karp.

In his ruling, Judge Wilson wrote that the writers were only able to "provide additional theories of access" instead of a strong, corporate concept of what the show was truly about. Even with a favorable coverage given to "Square One," the Judge stated that there was no definite proof that the writers behind "New Girl" had actually accessed it. The judge says that the Plaintiffs just weren't able to establish the link between the two shows.

"New Girl" first debuted in 2011 and stars Zooey Deschanel as the lead actress of the show. It is currently on its fifth season.

Tags

New Girl, Square One, Copyright Claim

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