A singer who sued the BBC for £10million, claiming they stole her idea for a hit reality TV show, has had her claim thrown out.
Gladness Jukic, 32, claimed BBC Three make-up artist face-off show Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star – whose presenters have included Stacey Dooley, Maya Jama and Leomie Anderson – was taken from an idea she pitched by email in 2018.
Ms Jukic – who performs under the stage name Bossiie – said her idea was sent to BBC commissioning editors as a nine-page Powerpoint document in May 2018, around the time the show was commissioned.
Wall to Wall Media Ltd, a London-based subsidiary of American behemoth Warner Bros Entertainment Inc, had made a successful pitch for the show to be produced under the working name of Face Off: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star.
Ms Jukic claimed her idea, entitled Bossiie: 10 Minute Makeover – which involved self-taught YouTuber make-up artists competing plus commercial hook-ups with make-up brands – was so similar to the final show that she should be compensated in damages totalling £10million.
But Mr Justice Thompsell has now thrown her claim out at London’s High Court, finding it was ‘totally without merit’ – ruling that the features she claimed were copied were ‘commonplace’ aspects of many reality shows.
Glow Up is a reality TV competition on BBC Three, devised to find new make-up artists and featuring contestants taking part in weekly challenges.
These are judged by industry professionals Dominic Skinner and Val Garland, as well as weekly guest stars.
Gladness Jukic (pictured), 32, claimed BBC3 make-up artist face-off show Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star was ‘stolen’ from an idea she pitched by email in 2018.
The BBC programme’s first presenter for the opening two series was Stacey Dooley (pictured)
Ms Jukic (pictured) – who performs under the stage name Bossiie – said her idea was sent to BBC commissioning editors as a nine-page Powerpoint document in May 2018
Maya Jama (pictured) took over as host of Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star in 2022
She was succeeded in 2023 by Leomie Anderson (pictured), helming the fifth and sixth series
The first series premiered in March 2019, originally hosted by Stacey Dooley, before she was succeeded by Maya Jama as presenter for the third series and Leomie Anderson fronting the show from the fifth series onwards.
Ms Jukic, from Romford in Essex, claimed she came up with her idea for a make-up reality show in November 2017 and emailed her nine-page Powerpoint pitch to the BBC on May 16 2018.
However, BBC lawyers insisted that Ms Jukic’s idea did not actually reach anyone because her email ‘bounced back’ – and also highlighted how it was pitched to them after they had already commissioned their own programme.
They also denied that the shows were similar except in ‘commonplace’ ways which cannot be protected by copyright.
The court heard that Ms Jukic has already lost one case, having had a bid to trademark the name ‘Glow up: Britain’s next make-up star’ defeated after a challenge by Warner Bros, leaving her with a £2,500 bill for court costs.
But she fought on in the High Court, seeking to establish ownership of copyright over the show.
Ms Jukic, who did not attend the latest hearing and was not represented, asked the judge for summary judgment in her claim.
The BBC and W2W countered with a bid to strike out the move and a summary judgment application of their own.
BBC lawyers insisted that the programme idea suggested by singer Gladness Jukic (pictired) did not actually reach anyone at the corporation because her email ‘bounced back’
Rejecting the singer’s claim, the judge told how Ms Jukic felt she had been ‘robbed’ by the production of Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star.
He said: ‘She considers that they copied, without permission and without paying her, her intellectual property in a concept and format for a reality TV series and turned this into a successful series.
‘The claimant makes a claim of £10million, possibly more, between BBC and Wall to Wall Media Ltd for using her trademark, Glow-Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star, and airing, as well as producing, her show without her consent.
‘It is claimed that, as a result of matters complained of, Ms Jukic suffered injured feelings, financial loss and mental torture.
‘She also particularises her damage as being loss of earnings from what she describes as “my show that I wrote”; her being blacklisted and failing to obtain employment in film and audio production because of her claim; and her suffering from panic attacks.
‘Ms Jukic had the idea for a show involving a competition involving make-up artists. That by itself is merely an idea.
‘To establish her case she needs to show copying of her expression of that idea, or of a substantial part of her expression of that idea.
‘Taken individually, while there are some similarities between the description of a show in the treatment and the Glow Up Show, those similarities are generally ideas that have been present in many other shows and as such are not original features that copyright will protect.
Gladness Jukic (pictured) has had her bid to sue for £10million rejected by the High Court
The first Glow Up series premiered in March 2019, hosted by Stacey Dooley (pictured)
Current host Leomie Anderson is joined by make-up industry professionals Dominic Skinner (left) and Val Garland (right) who act as judges
‘In my view, the differences are far greater than the similarities, and the shows have very different intentions.
‘It follows, therefore, that even if the claimant could establish that the BBC received the treatment, she will not be able to establish that it, or a substantial part of it were copied in the format of the Glow Up Show.
The judge went on to say that, while her claim was ‘made in good faith’, he would make a limited civil restraint order.
This bars Ms Jukic from pursuing her claims over the show any further without permission from a judge.
