Wealth, love, and betrayal. Set in the backdrop of the regency era in England, Bridgerton is a beautifully filmed television series based on Julia Quinn’s famed novel series. Starring the burgeoning actor, Regé Jean Page as the Duke and Phoebe Dynevor, his Dutchess, in season 1, their characters’ portrayals have been excellent. In the same season, flaming the fire scenes between the leading cast was a dialogue-turned-song, “Burn for you,” which has been at the center of controversy lately. Turns out Netflix has two cents to give about this latest controversy.

Netflix sues the makers of Bridgerton: The Musical accountable for copyright infringement

11 months ago, a team comprising two main leads of a music video, Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, released a song under the name, ‘The (unofficial) Bridgerton Musical’ on their YouTube channel. The song featured a video based on a scene between the Duke and the Duchess of Season 1 and used the dialogue scripts of the series as the lyrics. The team received much appreciation from the public and even bagged a Grammy for the same, not realizing the upcoming legal issues awaiting them.

Things took an abrupt turn when Netflix, the rightful owner of the show, noticed the unlawful activities executed by the Barlow and Bear company. The duo has been conducting concerts at Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, earlier this week, charging higher fees from VIPs.

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Netflix was fine with the group paying an unofficial homage to the show, but when the company started earning through concerts, the streamer could no longer let things continue as they were.

One of the major pointers of the lawsuit was, “Netflix Worldwide Entertainment, as the copyright owner of the Bridgerton, has the exclusive right to authorize derivative works based on the series. And as registered over the trademark owner of the BRIDGERTON mark, Netflix Studios alone has the rights to promote the Bridgerton Brand.”

The lawsuit further stated that ‘Barlow & Bear’ took valuable IP (intellectual property) from the streamer’s show and went on to build an international brand. 

What can be anticipated at the end of the legal proceeding?

The lawsuit also stated that the company had been falsely performing in the concert under the name of ‘Netflix Bridgerton.’ This was completely against copyright rules and regulations.

“Barlow & Bear cannot take that right—made valuable by others’ hard work—for themselves, without permission. Yet that is exactly what they have done, ” claimed Netflix.

Till now, the defendants have remained tight-lipped about the suit, but by no means do they stand a chance to exploit the Bridgerton intellectual property. Moreover, Netflix gave repetitive warnings to not to go beyond the limitations of Bridgerton copyright laws. The company seemingly didn’t abide by the same.

By the end of the trial, we can anticipate ‘Barlow & Bear’ facing legal complications, which might require them to pay Netflix a certain amount. At the very least, the staging will likely stop for the foreseeable future.

For the entire lawsuit and documents, click here.

Meanwhile, share with us what you think of this lawsuit. Whose side are you on?