TV formats for shows such as 'Big Brother', 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' and 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!' are part of a $1bn TV format industry worldwide.
It's therefore remarkable that at present no country in the world gives the TV industry statutory protection to regulate the trade in TV formats via copyright legislation.
For example, in the UK, any action for infringement of copyright under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 is fraught with legal uncertainty as "look-alike" shows don't necessary constitute a breach of copyright for the producers of the original TV format.
And original ideas for TV formats, on their own, cannot generally be protected by a claim in copyright according to a twenty year old decision over the classic television talent contest, Opportunity Knocks.
This has meant that anyone seeking to protect their rights in a valuable television programme format such as 'Big Brother' and 'I'm a Celebrity...' has had to rely on the ingenuity of their lawyers to prevent unauthorised exploitation of them.
Leading entertainment and media lawyers Jonathan Coad and Dr Marc Heinkelein identified the need for TV executives to have access to specialist legal expertise in markets across the world in order to protect their investments in TV programming.
Coad, who successfully defended ITV.com in the dispute over the rights to 'I'm a Celebrity...' explains: "When I was delivering seminars about format protection at television festivals it struck me just how little protection there was worldwide for such valuable intellectual property, and the difficulty of stopping unlicensed copycat versions being broadcast."
In response, Coad and Heinkelein have formed the International Format Lawyers Association (IFLA) and will launch this at the 45th Rose d'Or Festival on the shores of Lake Lucerne, Switzerland on Saturday May 7 2005.
"The idea is to create an international network of leading format lawyers as well as lobby for a harmonisation of international intellectual property laws so that producers and broadcasters know that their formats will receive equal protection in all territories where their shows are broadcast," adds Coad.
IFLA will create initially a network of lawyers in the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands, Scandinavia, US, Australia, Japan, Russia and even China, but plans eventually to ensure that every major television market will have its own IFLA lawyer.
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Ardi Kolah is ranked as one of the top 50 thinkers in marketing in the world by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), author of Essential Law for Marketers (Butterworth Heinemann, 拢25) and is Director of Communications, Imperial College, London.