Whither Top Gear?

"Steve in Manhattan" (blogenfreude01) 07/04/2015 at 09:14 • Filed to: None

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I’ve been thinking about the probable Netflix series with May, Hammond, and Clarkson. What will it look like? It won’t be called Top Gear , that’s for sure.

Sure they can have races and challenges that range over an entire episode or more. Sure they can do ‘consumer advice’ (Mr. Needham, take note).

But will they use !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ? The old studio? Will they be permitted to put a Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, or call it that? What Top Gear properties can they use? Will The Stig be called The Stig, or can they even use a racing driver to test cars for a power board? How much power will the BBC have over the content of the new show?

You can rest assured the BBC will sue if they perceive the new show has elements of Top Gear .

What do you think?

Echo51 > Steve in Manhattan 07/04/2015 at 09:17

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They should name it Last Gear.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Steve in Manhattan 07/04/2015 at 09:20

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Sixth gear?

Tareim - V8 powered > Steve in Manhattan 07/04/2015 at 09:22

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I think The Stig is an intellectual property held by the BBC so the trio wont be able to use it on their new show

Steve in Manhattan > Tareim - V8 powered 07/04/2015 at 09:25

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You are certainly right about that - my question is whether the format (anonymous race driver drives car around track, sets time) is BBC property.

Tareim - V8 powered > Steve in Manhattan 07/04/2015 at 09:28

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there maybe a case of copyright/trademark infringement of doing an unknown driver doing hot laps

Steve in Manhattan > Tareim - V8 powered 07/04/2015 at 09:42

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Lawyer with limited knowledge of copyright law - to me, it sounds like something too nonspecific to copyright. Sure, Top Gear is trademarked, no doubt, as is probably Star in a Reasonably Priced Car. Netflix can’t use those names. But it will be interesting to see how much the new show resembles the old.

Tareim - V8 powered > Steve in Manhattan 07/04/2015 at 10:22

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at the very least it could come down to plagiarism, whether anything would be done for that idk

Steve in Manhattan > Tareim - V8 powered 07/04/2015 at 10:35

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It would be copyright infringement, and possibly a contract violation if they made Wilman and the others sign agreements they wouldn’t do certain things once separated from the BBC. Noncompetes are hard - if they signed that they wouldn’t, say, do Star in a Reasonably priced car, that probably works. If they made them agree not to do any automotive shows for 5 years after separation, that’s overbroad, and a court would throw it out.

M54B30 > Steve in Manhattan 07/04/2015 at 11:50

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Hopefully they keep the good parts (tests, comparison, challenges) and use the opportunity to get rid of the dumb stuff (star in a carcar, track laps)

Steve in Manhattan > M54B30 07/04/2015 at 11:56

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I like all of it - even the news.