Fox News Media rejects Warner Bros’ claim that upcoming Fox Nation reality series Chris Harrison’s wish infringes its copyrights and trademarks The Bachelor.
The new dating series, set to debut in November, is hosted by Harrison, who hosted The Bachelor from 2002 to 2021.
In a cease and desist letter reviewed by Deadline, Ahassim Rashid, vice president and intellectual property counsel for Warner Bros Entertainment, owner of The Bachelorclaimed that the teaser of The wish contained unauthorized uses of the studio’s intellectual property. The attorney cited images of red rose petals “falling in the background with text in the foreground” and noted that WB had licensed the design to third parties for separate advertisements and promotions.
The lawyer also objected to the use of the words “The Bachelor” in the teaser, followed by an image of a man in a tuxedo holding a rose. The image of a “mansion in the background meant to evoke the iconic ‘Bachelor Mansion'” was also cited.
Rashid wrote that the teaser “represents a simple attempt to capitalize and ‘ride in the footsteps'” of The Bachelor.
In response, Fox News Media Executive Vice President and General Counsel Katherine Moran Meeks argued that Warner Bros. lawyers “wrongly assume that Warner Bros. owns intellectual property rights to a pattern of falling roses or the words “The Bachelor” when used colloquially to describe a single man.
In Warner Bros’ letter, its lawyer wrote that they had “no objection” to Fox and Lionsgate “per se releasing a dating show hosted by Chris Harrison.” But Moran Meeks also claimed that Warner Bros. was targeting Harrison in “this malicious, vindictive way.”
Fox News Media argued that the use of falling rose petals constitutes scenes to be done, or “staples long associated with the romance genre that have been featured in films of American beauty has Moulin Rouge has Beauty and the Beast. The network also argued that the use of the words “The Bachelor” was protected speech. “Even assuming that this fleeting use of ‘The Bachelor’ is also a tongue-in-cheek reference to your show, this kind of ‘pun, ambiguity, irony, and allusion’ enjoys the full protection of the First Amendment and cannot support a trademark infringement claim,” Moran Meeks wrote.
Warner Bros. has not yet commented further. The Hollywood Reporter first reported on the fight over the new show.
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