Television studios like to throw the words “redo”, “restart”, “revival” and “derivation”, and many of them have seemingly interchangeable definitions, but what, really, is the difference? Probably the simplest interpretation is that a remake is a new version of something old, a reboot is a different the version of an old thing, a resurgence is the continuation of an old thing and a derivation is a new thing related to something different. Whether or not these definitions are verified, CBS now faces a lawsuit that depends in part on how those words are interpreted.
In accordance with Limit date, two groups called Hanzer Holdings and Arlita Inc. filed a lawsuit against CBS in 2018 for the then new network MacGyver, claiming that they are the “successors in interest” of the well-known Major Talent agency, which was the packaging agent behind the original MacGyver series. You may remember the concept of “packaging” of the battle between Hollywood writers and agents that happened a few years ago, but the relevant part here is that Major Talent Agency apparently obtained a kind of nebula third party involvement in the original MacGyver in 1984, as well as “each series produced” as part of the same agreement, and now these two other companies say they have inherited that stake.
It seems that Hanzer and Arlita’s argument is that, as a “derivation” of the original series, the new MacGyver is part of the original MacGyver franchise and therefore qualifies as part of any original agreement that MTA has made. Meanwhile, CBS’s response is essentially: “It doesn’t work that way, none of that works.” CBS says neither he nor Paramount (who had the MacGyver previous rights) never had any agreement with Hanzer Holdings and “had not even heard of the plaintiff Arlita Inc.” until the lawsuit was filed, but even if they did, the wording of the original agreement (as filed by the plaintiffs) “does not even apply to repairs,” which is what CBS says MacGyver in fact it is.
So there are two angles here: does the old documentation say what Hanzer and Arlita say and, if so, does it make a deal relative to the original? MacGyver they also belong to the new MacGyver? If you get to this second point, studios may have to start paying attention to what these projects are called, and one day we may stop referring to every remake / reboot / revival / spin-off / anything like remake / reboot / rebirth / derivation / whatever.