[LEE]

The following story is from Ananova

Company behind Big Brother reportedly threatens to sue Russian "imitator"

The company behind Big Brother is reportedly threatening to sue a Russian TV station which it accuses of ripping off its ideas.

Endemol is said to believe that Za Steklom or Behind the Glass is strikingly similar to the Big Brother format which has proved a hit in 20 countries.
The Moscow Times says Dutch-based Endemol has sent a letter to TV6, the company which makes Behind the Glass, demanding that the show be canned.

But TV6 told the paper that the show, which puts contestants in an apartment wired up with cameras that follow their moves 24 hours a day, isn't like Big Brother. Guests have included flamboyant politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky.

The producer of Behind the Glass, who refuses to be named, said he got the idea for the show years before Big Brother came along.

He said he was inspired 12 years ago after reading Yevgeny Zamyatin's classic anti-utopian novel "We", in which people live in glass houses.

But Endemol spokesman Thomas Notermans told moscowtimes.com:"I think our point of view is a little more solid than a person who says they invented a programme 12 years ago."

Behind the Glass finished on Saturday with Zhanna and Denis each winning $15,000 (£10,553).

But the Moscow Times says TV6 is already planning a sequel called Poseldny Bifshteks Za Steklom or The Last Burgers Behind the Glass which is set in a cafe anyone can visit. Endemol said it will be watching closely.

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I didn't think Endemol had the original idea anyway. Didn't they buy it from the Dutch?