Netflix drops lawsuit against The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical’s creators
Netflix has dismissed its copyright infringement lawsuit against Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, the creators behind The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical, as reported earlier by Variety and Deadline. A copy of the court filing obtained by Deadline indicates that Netflix moved to “dismiss this action with prejudice,” meaning that the streamer can’t reopen the case in the future.
The duo was scheduled to respond to Netflix’s complaint on Thursday, but that never happened, and Netflix dismissed the suit on Friday. It’s unclear if they reached a settlement with the streamer, but the two ended up canceling their September 20th concert at Royal Albert Hall in London last month, where they were supposed to perform their songs alongside the BBC Orchestra.
In July, Netflix sued Barlow and Bear after they held a live, sold-out concert dedicated to their Bridgerton-inspired album in Washington DC, claiming the performance wasn’t authorized by the company, and that the pair “stretches ‘fan fiction’ well past its breaking point.” It also argued that it could cause confusion among fans who want to attend the Bridgerton Experience, Netflix’s own Bridgerton-themed event that it holds in several cities, including Washington DC.
Barlow and Bear began making music inspired by Netflix’s Bridgerton series on TikTok after the show’s 2020 premiere. The project eventually snowballed into a 15-song album that snapped up a Grammy earlier this year. Netflix initially expressed support for the music, with a post on the streamer’s Twitter account saying it was “blown away” by how the project unfolded.
The Verge reached out to Netflix and Barlow and Bear for comment about the case’s dismissal but didn’t immediately hear back.
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