California Court Tosses Idea Theft Suit Over LOST Television Show Out to Sea

Arthur Quiller-Couch formulated seven basic plots for a conflict.  Following his formula, every movie and television show can be narrowed down to one of seven basic plots.  Although the number of plots may be limited, there are inifinite ways to tell a story.  In a town like Hollywood, where everyone seems to have a script, there is always a chance that your story may be new; or similar to a story that has already been told, or even worse, a story that has already been sold.  Protection of “ideas” in Hollywood can literally be a big deal.

Intellectual property (property of the mind) is protected under copyright, trademark, patent, or trade secret law.  Still, it is well known that none of the aforementioned laws protect ideas per se, such as ideas for television series or movies. 

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