Celador International is concerned by similarities in the format
between the rival programmes. The New Zealand show, from UK
production company 12 Yard, launched in February – two days before
the first airing of the British version of You Are What You Eat on
a rival New Zealand channel.
12 Yard denies the allegation, saying its format is original and
that nobody at its company had seen You Are What You Eat before Eat
Yourself Whole's pilot was made.
"This is just the latest example of producers trying to take
action against copying of formats," said Yvonne Dunn, a media law
specialist with Pinsent Masons, the international law firm behind
OUT-LAW News.
Dunn pointed out a series of similar disputes: between the
producers of the Survivor series and rival reality TV show I'm a
Celebrity – Get Me Out of Here; between Pop Idol moguls Simon
Cowell and Simon Fuller over X Factor; and between RDF and Fox over
Wife Swap and Trading Spouses.
Dunn said: "Given that UK law has fallen short of protecting
formats in the past, it will be interesting to see if the
increasing volume of these cases puts pressure on a change in the
law in this area."
