Judge Tosses “Roscoe’s Chicken/Waffles” Copyright Claims Against Cable Show But Allows State Claims To Move Forward

Herbert Hudson, the founder of Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles, has lost a $1 million copyright infringement lawsuit against cable channel TV One. Mr. Hudson alleged that the company and its producers had taken his idea and script for a tv show and turned it into the show Belle’s, which aired on TV One. U.S. District Judge George Wu ruled that  “plot and sequence of events in the two television shows are clearly different” and that the defendants “correctly point out that Roscoe’s Show is premised on an actual restaurant in Los Angeles, whereas Belle’s is premised on a purely fictional restaurant in Atlanta.”

However, Judge Wu is allowing state claims to move forward; that trial is slated for December 17th.

More here from the National Law Journal.