Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear are facing immense legal heat from Netflix, and "Bridgerton" show creators after their Kennedy Center performance of the "Unofficial Bridgerton Musical."
Very recently, "Bridgerton" executive producer Shonda Rimes and book author Julia Quinn has finally spoken out on the Barlow & Bear lawsuit.
Barlow & Bear's 'The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical'
At the height of "Bridgerton's" success in 2021, Abigail Barlow posted a series of TikTok videos of what seemed to be a take on the Netflix hit show, if it would be a musical.
The videos and the songs went viral, even gaining the attention of the Bridgerton cast, show makers, and even Netflix itself.
The now produced by Abigail Barlow and her producer friend, Emily Bear sought Netflix approval - and alas, the concept album, "The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical," was greenlit by the streaming platform who owned the rights and was eventually produced.
The album eventually won the 2022 GRAMMY Award for Best Musical Theatre Album, making it the first album in the category to win that came from TikTok.
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Barlow & Bear 'Bridgerton' Lawsuit Explained
With the success of the album and the songs, Barlow & Bear decided to take it to the stage to profit from the well-loved music.
However, after their first-ever sold-out show at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. last week, the two were met with a scandalous legal drama.
Netflix, who owned the rights to the show, served the two musicians a copyright infringement lawsuit, accusing Barlow & Bear of copying intellectual property without their permission.
In "The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical" most of the songs heavily included verbatim language from the show, including characters, character traits and expressions, and other notable elements from the Netflix series.
"Bridgerton reflects the creative work and hard-earned success of hundreds of artists and Netflix employees. Netflix owns the exclusive right to create Bridgerton songs, musicals, or any other derivative works based on Bridgerton," the lawsuit reads.
Apparently, Netflix has only greenlit the creation of the concept album and should be consulted should Barlow & Bear decide to do more than streaming it online. The duo has not informed the streaming giant of their for-profit shows and performing them live, which the lawsuit claims to have been the deal breaker.
Additionally, Barlow & Bear has made it public that they indeed picked out moments, and dialogues, in the series "liberally."
Both Shonda Rimes, and Julia Quinn have condemned the duo's actions.
"Just as Barlow & Bear would not allow others to appropriate their IP for profit, Netflix cannot stand by and allow Barlow & Bear to do the same with Bridgerton," Shonda Rimes, the show creator, stated.
Meanwhile, Quinn implored the musical duo's artistic diligence, hoping they "understand the need to protect other professionals' intellectual property."
As of this writing, Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear has not yet commented on the lawsuit.
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