Is it possible to have copyright on a TV show format?
<p>There was the TV show &quot;TV total Deutscher Eisfußball-Pokal&quot; (TV total German ice soccer cup) by Stefan Raab and the last episode is from 2015. See <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_total_Deutscher_Eisfu%C3%9Fball-Pokal" rel="nofollow noreferrer">wikipedia</a></p>
<p>Now someone wanted to make a similar show &quot;Kick auf Eis&quot; (kick on ice) in 2022. But now they got a warning from the lawyer of Raab and so they won't make the show. He claims it's a copy of his show. See <a href="https://www.ingame.de/news/streaming/trymacs-stefan-raab-streamer-kick-auf-eis-streit-abmahnung-fussball-twitch-hamburg-91939369.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this news</a></p>
<p>I am less interested in if this is justified (the warning by the lawyer).</p>
<p>I am more interested in what the basis for such a warning is. Is it copyright?</p>
<p>Does Stefan Raab have a copyright on the show format?</p>
<p>When you paint a picture you automatically obtain copyright on it.</p>
<p>This might be the same for the video material of a single show.</p>
<p>But did Stefan Raab automatically obtain copyright on the whole TV show format?</p>
<p>If not what is the legal basis for the warning?</p>

<p>The argument would have to be either a derivative work under copyright, or a trade dress/trademark claim.</p>
<p>Neither sounds very solid at all.</p>
<p>Neither copyright nor trade dress/trademark protect ideas like a TV format. They can only protect very similar expressions of an idea that necessarily flow one from the other and, for example, the game mechanics can't be protected by copyright.</p>

copyright