Lawyers for ‘The Pitt’ Submit Final Brief to Dismiss Claims of Being an ‘ER’ Knockoff

Recent legal filings indicate that the ongoing dispute between Max’s medical drama The Pitt and the estate of ER creator Michael Crichton has progressed further.

The lawsuit, initiated in 2024, revolves around allegations that The Pitt is an unauthorized copy or “derivative work” of the iconic NBC series ER.

In a new reply brief submitted on Monday night, attorneys representing Warner Bros., producer John Wells, and actor Noah Wyle strongly countered these claims. They assert that the notion of The Pitt being derived from ER lacks foundation and is not substantiated by the evidence presented in the case thus far.

The legal team emphasized that the lawsuit is based on a limited interpretation of a 1994 contract related to ER rights. In their filing, they described the case as an effort to completely halt the series, stating, “Plaintiff seeks to kill ‘The Pitt’ — and claims it should never have aired — based on a plainly incorrect misreading of a single phrase in a 1994 contract that gave Crichton approval rights over ‘derivative works’ of ‘ER.’”

The defendants further argue that the two shows do not share any significant legal similarities. They contend that The Pitt only shares broad genre elements with ER, such as being set in a hospital and utilizing common medical storytelling techniques.

In the filing, they stated that “The Pitt contains no protected elements from ‘ER’: aside from sharing a genre (hospital drama) and certain unprotectable, genre-specific tropes, like the use of medical jargon, the two shows are nothing alike.” They also noted that Noah Wyle’s character in The Pitt is entirely different from his role in ER.

Another argument presented in the brief concerns the timing of the lawsuit. The defense claims the lawsuit was filed even before The Pitt premiered, and they also mention that the Crichton estate had previously considered developing an ER reboot with similar concepts, including real-time storytelling, before abandoning that project.

The original lawsuit accuses the producers of violating contract terms and argues that The Pitt only exists because a planned agreement to reboot ER fell through. Earlier, the defendants attempted to have the case dismissed under California’s anti-SLAPP law, which aims to protect creative works from lawsuits lacking substantial evidence. However, a judge determined that the case had sufficient merit to proceed.

The case is now moving toward oral arguments in the appellate court. Meanwhile, The Pitt continues its airing on Max, having already been renewed for a third season following a successful second season and numerous award nominations.

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