Fox Nation Fires Back At 'Bachelor' Producers In Legal War Over Chris Harrison's 'The Vow'
'The Vow' vs 'The Bachelor' Fox Nation Fires Back Over Legal Threat ... You Don't Own Rose Petals!
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Chris Harrison's new dating show is sparking a nasty back-and-forth between Fox Nation and Warner Bros. TV ... with Fox firing back after 'Bachelor' producers took issue with "The Vow."
Here's the deal ... Warner Bros. lawyers sent Fox Nation a cease-and-desist, claiming Chris' new show is trying to ride on the coattails of "The Bachelor" ... taking issue with some visuals in a new promo for "The Vow."
In their response, obtained by TMZ, Fox Nation says ... "While FOX Nation respects the intellectual property rights of others, you wrongly assume that Warner Bros. holds any rights whatsoever in a falling roses motif or in the words 'The Bachelor' when used colloquially to describe a single man.”
As we previously reported, Chris says in the promo … "Roses fade, true love lasts forever” – an apparent dig at his previous employers. There is also imagery of falling rose petals and rose flowers.
Fox Nation claims WB's cease-and-desist "focuses myopically on certain stills from the trailer" instead of the actual point of including the roses … "to convey that The Vow 'offers a different approach' from other dating shows."
Fox Nation says … "Your letter appears to be designed not to vindicate legitimate copyright and trademark interests, but to restrict FOX Nation and Chris Harrison from promoting a competing dating show.”
The response continues … "It is unfortunate that Warner Bros. is targeting Mr. Harrison in this malicious and vindictive manner."
Fox Nation says the copyright claim over falling rose petals is BS … saying it's a popular trope in romance media that "The Bachelor" actually borrowed itself.
What's more, Fox Nation also argues that Warner Bros. doesn't have a trademark claim over "The Vow" referring to its star as "the bachelor," because it's just a term to describe an unmarried man.
Fox Nation says that even if it were a tongue-in-cheek reference to "The Bachelor" ... it's wordplay and a clever allusion protected under the First Amendment.
Bottom line for Fox Nation ... "The Vow exhorts its participants and viewers to 'Choose Love.' We trust Warner Bros. will do the same and drop its pursuit of these meritless claims."
