A person with knowledge of the situation says that Netflix Inc. (NFLX.O) dropped its lawsuit against the people who made “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical” after a deal was made.
In late July, the streaming service sued Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear in Washington for copyright infringement. This was three days after a sold-out performance of “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical” at the Kennedy Center in the U.S. capital.
Netflix said in papers filed in federal district court on Friday that it had dropped the case “with prejudice,” which means that it can’t bring it up again.
After “Bridgerton” started on Netflix in December 2020, the creative duo known as Barlow & Bear started posting about it on TikTok and making songs based on characters, scenes, lines of dialogue, and plot points. After that, they put out an album called “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical,” which won a Grammy Award and became the basis for the stage show.
The Netflix show is based on Julia Quinn’s romance books set in the Regency era.
“Barlow & Bear’s behaviour started on social media, but it goes way beyond the limits of “fan fiction,”” Netflix said in its first complaint. “It is a clear violation of the rights to intellectual property.”
A post on the Instagram account of “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical” says that Barlow & Bear cancelled a show that was supposed to happen in September at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
When asked for their thoughts, Barlow and Bear did not answer.