MONTREAL (CN) - The author of the book-turned-TV series "Dogs With Jobs" claims in court that a production company ripped off her idea to make a copycat show called "Animals at Work."
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Merrily Weisbord sued Cineflix Media and affiliates, and its president and founder Glen Salzman, in Superior Court.
Weisbord claims that Salzman created alter ego Les Productions Cineflix to produce the knockoff show.
"Dogs with Jobs" ran for five seasons in 57 countries and featured dogs in various work roles. The last season was produced in 2003-2004.
Weisbord claims the knockoff show title merely swapped "Dogs" for "Animals" and "Jobs" for "Work," and the similarity didn't end there: "a preliminary review shows that at least 15 of the dogs presented in the new show were also presented in the series 'Dogs With Jobs' and that the structure of the shows is very similar," according to the complaint.
"This new series is clearly a sequel and a re-make based on the format developed by plaintiff," the complaint states. "This is illustrated by the fact that the series uses an important amount of footage from the original series 'Dogs with Jobs.'"
The new show is, in fact, a sequel to the original one, Weisbord says. She claims the defendants owe her at least $400,000 for "Animals at Work," which also is known as "Frisky Business."
She is represented by Grey Casgrain.
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