Estate of Del Boy's creator sues tribute show

The copyright battle over a ‘hooky’ dining show based on Only Fools And Horses has made it to the High Court.

But in a setback for the case being brought by the family of sitcom creator John Sullivan, the matter has been referred to a lower jurisdiction.

Sullivan’s estate suing the company behind Only Fools: The (Cushty) Dining Experience – in which audiences are served a meal by characters from his sitcom – for copyright infringement and ‘passing off’, in which customers might be led to believe the event has official links to the BBC original.

They say the estate owns the rights to the characters, the scripts and the lyrics to the theme tune. Even if the production doesn’t use any lines from the show, their legal argument is that ‘the characters, world and theme’ of the sitcom are protected.

However, Imagination Workshop, which stages the show, say the phrases they use in the show are in common usage. They may also use the fact that parody can be a defence in copyright claims.

The company told Chortle today: 'We vehemently deny any wrongdoing. We and our legal team believe the proceedings to be misconceived and will be defending them fully.’ 

As reported in The Times today, Master Teverson in the High Court has this week referred the case to the  Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, which would limit the amount of damages that the estate could claim.

Imagination Workshop are being sued by Shazam Productions, whose directors are Sullivan’s widow Sharon and children, Dan, Jim and Amy. The writer, who also created Citizen Smith, Dear John and Just Good Friends, died from pneumonia in 2011, at the age of 64. Chortle has approached both Shazam for comment.

Their case comes after an official musical based on the sitcom has been a West End hit. The show is due to reopen in April after being shut down by the Covid pandemic.

Imagination Workshop also runs a Fawlty Towers-inspired dining experience – a concept which has enraged John Cleese. In 2016, the comic branded such events 'completely brazen, utterly shameless’.

He said: 'They take our concepts, they take our characters, they take our characters’ names and then they change the W to a U and say it’s got nothing to do with our show.’ 

At the time,  Imagination Workshop’s artistic director Alison Pollard-Mansergh claimed Cleese's comments were 'misleading and inaccurate'.

Lawyers representing Clese's show have previously threatened legal action agains a rival company,  Laughlines, over its dinner show Basil & Co, too.

Laughlines also runs an Only Fools And Horses themed event, Del & Rodney, as well as others based on Allo Allo, Blackadder II and  Father Ted.

In 2011, Father Ted creators Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan threatened to sue Laughlines over their dinner show based on the Craggy Island priests.

Published: 16 Dec 2020