In a lawsuit alleging that the popular HGTV home renovation series "Good Bones" was copied from a pitch-reel, a Fox Rothschild Entertainment and IP Litigation team led by David Aronoff, Michael Beylkin and Joshua A. Bornstein has won summary judgment on a copyright infringement claim in a Colorado federal court on behalf of High Noon Productions, LLC.

In Tolbert v. High Noon Productions LLC, the plaintiff claimed she had created a "teaser reel" to pitch an idea for a show about a mother-and-daughter team of home renovators that she titled "Like Mother, Like Daughter." However, after it was rejected by various producers allegedly associated with HGTV and Discovery, she claimed HGTV began airing a similar show titled "Good Bones," which was produced by High Noon.

The Fox team argued that the case was fatally flawed due to High Noon having no access to Plaintiff's teaser, that High Noon had pitched its idea first, and that the works lacked substantial similarity in any protectable expression.

The court dismissed copyright infringement claim on the grounds of lack of access, after having earlier dismissed related tag-along state law claims as inadequately pleaded and otherwise preempted by the Copyright Act.

U.S. District Judge Daniel D. Domenico agreed that the lack of access defeated the plaintiff’s claims, holding that the infringement claim failed as a matter of law, without finding it necessary to reach the alternative grounds for dismissal urged by High Noon.

"Ms. Tolbert has adduced no evidence that any employee or representative of High Noon had a reasonable opportunity to view or otherwise access her teaser for Like Mother Like Daughter until she filed this suit. Indeed, the parties don't dispute that High Noon submitted its sizzle reel for the show months before Ms. Tolbert created her teaser," Judge Domenico wrote.