Will HotOrNot Sue Are You Hot?

from the how-hot-will-the-lawsuit-be? dept

I've met James Hong, one of the founders of the popular "HotOrNot" website, a couple of times through some friends. So, last week, when I first heard about the new ABC TV show "Are You Hot?", I sent him a quick email to ask if ABC had paid them any money for the idea. The TV show (and, yes, it sounds dreadful) is basically an exact replica of HotOrNot, put on TV. They even let viewers vote on how "hot" the final contestants are. James didn't reply, but I guess that's because they're contemplating a lawsuit against "Are You Hot?", not for stealing the idea - but for using the phrase "hot or not?".
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Duffman, 20 Feb 2003 @ 9:37am

    Funny story

    This doesn't have to do with the story, but with the show. My friend and his girlfriend were watching it the other night, and one of the guys was saying that one thing people don't know about him was that he was quite intelligent. He then went on to comment that, "I think people are afraid to conversate with me because they don't think I would be intelligent."

    As my friend said, it really embiggened my opinion of reality television to hear such cromulent dialogue.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.