Abstract
In today's media environment, TV shows have become a real business, each of them meaning a great amount of money and popularity as long as they can provide new, original and attractive concepts. Therefore, when it comes to plagiarism, the issue of protection of these programs has gained importance. The most successful TV shows are usually the ones which are able to offer different approaches for entertainment, and subsequently, new formats, which come to play an essential role. For example, 'The Weakest Link', 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?', 'Big Brother' or 'Pop Idol' have all developed a specific format which has been determinant for their success. For obvious reasons, the developers of new TV formats seek for an effective legal protection of their works in order to safeguard themselves from exploitation. However, this legal protection is not guaranteed, and the debate as to whether or not a format can be adequately protected rages on. To what extent can the formats of such programmes be protected and how can such a protection be licensed? The purpose of this paper will be to consider the different legal tools and issues of the protection of TV formats. It will first examine the general criteria of protection under the French law, with regard to its implementation to TV formats; then, it will give a broad consideration of the difficulties of protecting TV formats through the analysis of various cases around the world.
