The show, which is running for its third series in the
US
, pits entrepreneurial competitors against each
other in a race to win the job of a lifetime with The Trump
Organization and a hefty six-figure salary.
The lawsuit comes from Los Angeles-based production company
Velocity Entertainment Group and its chief principal, Mark Bethea.
They accuse The Apprentice's executive producer Mark Burnett and
co-executive producer Conrad Riggs of stealing the idea after a
presentation by Bethea in the summer of 2001.
Bethea claims that in August 2000 he conceived and developed a
reality-TV show entitled '
CEO
', which had contestants
competing against each other in a corporate environment for the
ultimate prize of becoming the chief executive officer of an actual
corporation. Due to his corporate experience, on-screen presence
and credibility, Donald Trump was named to host
CEO
.
Bethea pitched the idea to producers, including Riggs, in June
of 2001. During subsequent communications, Riggs informed Bethea
that Riggs and Burnett were not interested in producing
CEO
. Bethea contends that it was understood that Riggs
would keep the concept for
CEO
confidential.
According to Ronald
W
Makarem, lawyer for Bethea,
his client tried to contact the show's producers when NBC first
announced "The Apprentice" in the spring of 2003, but his efforts
were rebuffed, resulting in the lawsuit.
Gross revenues for the first season of "The Apprentice," which
included 15 episodes on
NBC
, are believed to have
exceeded $100 million. The gross revenues of "The Apprentice,"
including the second and third seasons plus commercial products,
are expected to multiply this figure.
The suit seeks damages arising out of a number of legal
issues, including copyright infringement, breach of implied
contract and unfair competition. It is scheduled to go to trial on
1st November 2005.
This is the latest in a series of disputes over
TV
formats, including actions 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.
Most recently the maker of Channel 4 show You Are What You Eat
threatened to sue the producer of New Zealand diet show Eat
Yourself Whole, arguing that the programme is a rip-off of its
work.
