A copyright claim from a comedian who claims a major production copied his format is set to go to trial later this year.

In 2023 Harry Deansway issued a copyright infringement claim against Baby Cow Productions; the company co-founded by Steve Coogan that claims its head of comedy Rupert Majendie copied a format of his friend and colleague.

Deansway was a promoter for the London comedy club, Shambles at the Aces and Eights, before creating an innovative YouTube sitcom series, titled ‘Shambles’, based on live comedy nights at the club. The first episode aired on 6 November 2013 and the series focused on a group of behind-the-scenes characters involved in the running of the comedy club and included scenes of live comedy with a real audience. The series ran for two seasons, with six episodes in both.

His case is that the format of Shambles is an original dramatic work protected by copyright under ss.1(1)(a) and 3(1) of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (“CDPA 1988”) and a work of its author’s own intellectual creation. It also consists of several clearly identifiable features, which, taken together, distinguish it from other shows of a similar type.

Deansway says that Baby Cow Productions (the Defendant) premiered a new series, Live at the Moth Club, on television channel, Dave. Rupert Majendie is credited as the executive producer and director. The series is a sitcom set in a comedy club in Hackney called the Moth Club. It blends situation comedy deriving from fictional behind-the-scenes material with real live comedy performances and features recurring characters played by well-known comic actors and comedians (many of whom had also performed at Deansway’s shows). The show contains similarities with Shambles including characters, story lines, jokes and settings.

Deansway argues that the Defendant has infringed copyright by:

• ●  reproducing a substantial part of Shamble’s dramatic format through the production of each episode of Live at the Moth Club contrary to s.17 CDPA 1988;

• ●  communicating copies of each infringing episode to the public by broadcast on the channel Dave or by making the episodes available to the public for streaming on UKTV Play contrary to s.21 CDPA 1988;

• ●  authorising, as the producer of Live at the Moth Club, those third parties to commission those acts contrary to s.16(2) CDPA 1988; and/or

• ●  assisted in, procured or directed those acts pursuant to a common design to broadcast and make available the relevant infringing episodes, thereby acting as an accessory to the infringements.

  Harry Deansway has instructed Keystone Law’s media litigation partner Lawrence Abramson to represent him in the proceedings.

Deansway said: “It is extremely disappointing that my friend Rupert Majendie, head of comedy at Steve Coogan’s Baby Cow should have copied my original work like this without so much as courtesy call. That it was done by a friend and collaborator in the industry is just deeply saddening. What makes it so much worse is that by standing up for my principles I am having to go head to head with every comedian’s comic idol Steve Coogan, I cant help wondering how he would have felt if someone had copied one of his early characters when he was just starting out and then tried to allege that this was perfectly legal. I’ve been shocked and appalled by Baby Cows strategy of denial when in my opinion the the show has been so obviously copied”

Baby Cow said in a statement: “Live At The Moth Club is an original work and the claim is being fully defended.” It added that Deansway’s claim has “no legal merit.”