“Abbot Elementary” creator Quinta Brunson and ABC Are Being Sued For Copyright Infringement”

There are legal problems for Quinta Brunson and ABC! Just a day after Brunson received multiple Emmy nominations for the hit television show Abbott Elementary, she and ABC were hit with a lawsuit for copyright infringement by aspiring writer, actress, and performer Christine Davis according to Radar Online. 

Davis stated that she had created a show This School Year, which follows a very similar and familiar premise and school setting. The script was written by Davis in 2018 and it was registered with the United States Copyright Office in March 2020.

Her version of the show takes place in the city of New York instead of Philadelphia and the principal hires filmmakers to film a school documentary. 

In the suit, David accused the defendants of copyright infringement and claims Abbott is a rip-off of her show, This School Year.

“Without [Davis’] permission, license, authority, or consent, [Brunson & ABC] knowingly and illegally used [Davis’] works to create the Abbott Elementary television show.

The court documents describe the main character  Ms.David is This School Year’s main character as a “young, idealistic teacher hoping to get tenure but also trying to convince everyone that the school needs to be reformed. This character sound familiar? 

Davis said she took her script to two women named Shavon Sullivan Wright and Cherisse Parks at Blue Park Productions in July 2020. She said she had at least three meetings about her work. Wright and Parks told her that ABC and HulU were both looking for black, female-led comedies and that they took the script to HULU but no deal had happened. 

Davis was surprised to find out that ABC then started shooting Abbott in September 2020 with Brunson as the lead and listed as creator. 

“Look and feel of the inner-city school, the mockumentary style, unique plot synopsis, set design and unique characters from,” stated Davis in her suit in regards to things Abbott had copied. 

“Additionally, the main characters are all stingingly and substantially similar. From the triad of young teachers whose roles are nearly identical,” the suit reads.

Davis’ suit demands Brunson and ABC turn over all profits they made from the show. The legal drama comes after Brunson earned Emmy nominations for acting, writing, and in the series category.