What had been a fun Tiktok fan celebration of one of its biggest hits has gotten out of hand, according to Netflix, which has filed suit to stop the creators of the Unofficial Bridgerton Musical from further exploiting its franchise.
Netflix has filed a complaint alleging copyright infringement, unjust enrichment and trademark infringement against the creators of the production, after a stage performance featuring the National Symphony Orchestra and a $149 ticket price sold out New York's Kennedy Center in July.
Following the suit last week, London's Royal Albert Hall canceled a scheduled performance of the fan-created stage musical.
"There is so much joy in seeing audiences fall in love with Bridgerton," said series creator and executive producer Shondra Rhimes, in a statement. 'But what started as a fun celebration by [fan creators Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear] on social media has turned into the blatant taking of intellectual property."
The suit marks an about face for Netflix, which initially embraced the Unofficial Bridgerton Musical.
The entity was spawned on Tiktok by Barlow in January 2021, shortly after the debut of Rhimes' Regency-era romantic-drama hit, with the twentysomething American singer and Bridgerton fan crowd-sourcing music for a hypothetical stage production built around the show.
Teaming with another American twentysomething, Bear, Barlow soon cobbled together a collection of songs. Netflix was supportive, even tweeting at one point, "Absolutely blown away by the Bridgerton musical playing out on TikTok."
That song collection became an album ... which won a Grammy in April Best Musical Theater record.
Netflix even tolerated Barlow and Bear's unauthorized musical when they evolved it to a traveling stage production with $85 ticket prices.
But the success of July's Kennedy Center event clearly represented critical mass.
Jane Quinn, the author of the books from which Rhimes adapted Bridgerton, also chimed in with a statement: "I was flattered and delighted when they began. There is a difference, however, between composing on TikTok and recording and performing for commercial gain."
