"Project Runway" Heading to Federal Court?

If anyone ever tells you fashion isn’t a big deal, just take a cue from the recent legal stuff surrounding "Project Runway," and it’s proposed move from Bravo to Lifetime.

What a mess! And now Lifetime is asking that the case be tried in federal court rather than New York State Supreme Court.

It all comes down to a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed in April by NBC Universal after the Weinstein Co. announced it was moving the series from Bravo (which falls under the NBC umbrella) to Lifetime in a five-year-deal, starting with season six (which has been pushed to who-knows-when from January 2009).

More after the jump…

Lifetime says they want it in federal court because it’s a matter of federal copyright law. "We continue to believe that Lifetime has rights superior to NBCU’s claimed right of first refusal on future cycles of ‘Project Runway,’" notes a statement issued by Lifetime.

Last month, Judge Richard Lowe III found that an unsigned 2003 license agreement between the producer and NBC was enforceable and that an amendment giving NBC the "right of first refusal" for additional seasons of the show as well as spinoffs did exist. The judge also denied the Weinstein Co.’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

I want it to stay on Bravo! Why the right of first refusal wouldn’t be valid is beyond me. Stick it to ‘em, Bravo!

Image: Bravo; Source: Hollywood Reporter