Did Yellowstone copy another television series, or are the similarities simply part of the modern Western genre? In this episode of The Briefing, Weintraub Tobin Partners Scott Hervey and Richard D. Buckley, Jr. break down Lauren Salkin’s copyright lawsuit against Taylor Sheridan and others over alleged similarities between Sovereign Nation and Yellowstone.
In this episode, they cover:
– The alleged similarities between Sovereign Nation and Yellowstone, from tribal sovereignty and land development to characters and key scenes
– How the Ninth Circuit’s extrinsic test filters out ideas, facts, stock characters, and scènes à faire when evaluating copyright infringement
– Whether the specific selection, arrangement, and sequencing of otherwise unprotectable elements could be enough to support Salkin’s claim
Tune in for a clear look at where television similarities stop and protectable copyright expression begin