The Pitt lawsuit against Warner Bros. can proceed, appeals court rules

A California appeals court has allowed a contract claim against Warner Bros. Television over the medical drama The Pitt to continue, while ordering the dismissal of the other defendants, including actor Noah Wyle.

Roadrunner JMTC, a company controlled by Michael Crichton’s widow, Sherri, claims The Pitt is effectively an unauthorised reboot of ER, the hit hospital drama created by her husband. A 1994 agreement required the consent of Crichton, Amblin and Warner Bros. for sequels, remakes, spin-offs or other works derived from ER.

In its 4 November ruling, the three-judge panel found that Roadrunner had presented enough evidence for its claim against Warner Bros. Television to survive an early attempt to dismiss it. The decision does not establish that the studio breached the contract.

For this stage of the case, the court compared the pilot episodes of the two shows. It pointed to similarities including their emergency-room settings, rapid medical dialogue, overlapping crises and inexperienced young doctors. It said the details were sufficient even under the stricter definition of a derivative work put forward by the defence.

The judges also noted that they had to draw legitimate inferences in Roadrunner’s favour at this stage. Warner’s lawyers had argued that the similarities were common to medical dramas and that the shows had different characters, hospitals and emergencies. The studio previously called the lawsuit “baseless” and The Pitt a “new and original show”.

The court reached a different conclusion on the separate claim against the other defendants, who included Wyle, executive producer John Wells and showrunner R Scott Gemmill. It found insufficient evidence to support the allegation that they had intentionally interfered with the contract, and instructed the lower court to dismiss them from the case.

Sherri Crichton said she was “deeply gratified” by the decision and looked forward to the evidence-gathering process and presenting the case to a jury. Warner Bros. had not commented on the latest ruling, the BBC reported.