Netflix Inc dropped its lawsuit against the creators of ‘The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical’ after reaching a settlement, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The streaming service filed a copyright infringement suit against Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear in Washington in late July, three days after a sold-out performance of ‘The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical’ in the U.S. capital’s Kennedy Center.
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Netflix disclosed in documents filed Friday in federal district court that it had dismissed the case ‘with prejudice’, meaning it cannot bring the case again.
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After ‘Bridgerton’ debuted on Netflix in December 2020, the creative duo known as Barlow & Bear began posting about the series on TikTok, composing songs based on characters, scenes, dialogues and plot points. They subsequently released an album titled ‘The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical’, which won a Grammy Award and led to the stage show.
The Netflix series is based on the Regency-era romance novels by Julia Quinn.
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“Barlow & Bear’s conduct began on social media, but stretches ‘fan fiction’ well past its breaking point,” Netflix said in its original complaint. “It is [a] blatant infringement of intellectual property rights.”
Barlow & Bear cancelled a performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London scheduled for September, according to a post on the Instagram account of ‘The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical’.
Also read: Bridgerton The Musical: Netflix sues knockoff’s creators for infringement
Barlow and Bear did not respond to a request for comment.
