The Seven Network is set to press ahead with its case against the Nine Network over new cooking show The Hotplate in a bid to protect MKR's distribution rights in Australia and overseas.
The matter, in which Seven claims Nine is infringing Seven’s copyright in various original literary and dramatic works, will now go to a full hearing after Seven's application for an interlocutory injunction to restrain broadcast of series was refused.
Despite the failed bid to stop the current series going to air, Federal Court Justice John Nicholas said in his judgement that, "while While I am satisfied that Seven has a reasonably arguable case, I do not accept Seven’s submission that it has a strong prima facie case.
"The nature of the argument that Nine proposes to advance at trial, as I understand it, is that Seven’s dramatic work is a successful but nonetheless unimaginative collection of unoriginal ideas and situations found in earlier reality television programs identified in Ms Officer’s evidence. Because Sevens’s evidence does not specifically address these matters, I am unable to dismiss Nine’s argument as weak or inherently unlikely to succeed," Justice Nicholas said.
A spokesperson for Seven said the network would continue to protect its business and the content it creates.
"His Honour today found that Seven has an arguable case that the close similarity of the formats is the result of copying and that there is a reasonable basis for Seven to argue that, directly or indirectly, the team responsible for developing the Hotplate format has copied the format, or a large part of the format, used in MKR.
"Seven will continue its case against the Nine program which it asserts is a straight rip-off of My Kitchen Rules.
"The defendants, when the matters proceed to full hearing, includes the Endemol Group, the distributor of MKR program, as well as Nine.
"Seven needs to protect not only the Australian version of My Kitchen Rules but also the distribution rights in many overseas territories.
Seven has asked the court to deal with the matter as an urgent hearing.
"My Kitchen Rules is the number one show in Australia. It is also broadcast in in 162 countries.
"There are local versions of MKR being produced under licence in seven international markets very successfully, including Canada, Lithuania, UK, Serbia, New Zealand, Belgium and Denmark.
"Seven will also continue to create new and original programmes. That commitment has underpinned our continuing leadership in television and a success that others seek to copy."
In his judgement, Justice Nicholas, said there was one obvious difference in the format of the episodes of MKR and Hotplate.
"The contestants in MKR are not professional restaurateurs but amateur chefs who prepare and serve the meals in their homes," he said.
"In Hotplate, the contestants are professional restaurateurs who prepare and serve the meals to the other contestants and the judges.
"They do this in their restaurants albeit at a time when the restaurant is closed to the general public, as part of what is referred to as a 'private dining experience'."
There is also affidavit evidence given by Frederik (Rikkie) Proost.
Proost, Seven’s Executive Producer of Reality Television and the Executive Producer of MKR, said that in 2009 he and Mr Lyons were part of a team of people employed by Seven that developed the format for MKR including its key elements.
"Others on the team included Mr Tim Worner and Ms Lisa Fitzpatrick," according to an excerpt from the judgement.
"Proost says that when developing MKR, the team worked to create a new and original format and did not copy existing formats.
"He says that the combination of elements and the format of MKR is, to the best of his knowledge, original and not replicated in any other reality television cooking program.
Seven had also claimed Endemol, the producer of The Hotplate, was in possession of the MKR "production bible."
Nicholas said in his judgement: "There is also affidavit evidence from Nine's corporate Counsel which is relied upon by Nine to show that many of the key elements of MKR’s format identified by Lyons and Proost are commonplace, and have been used in other food reality television programs (eg. Come Dine with Me, Masterchef, The Chopping Block) and other non-food reality television programs (eg. The Block, The Biggest Loser, Farmer Wants a Wife).
Nine relied on this evidence to show that the MKR format is largely derived from unoriginal material.
The full hearing will be heard at a later date.