The Unofficial Bridgerton Lawsuit 👩⚖️
Today we’re starting with a BIG shout out to the 14 new ✨SYSCA SUPPORTERS✨ who’ve joined us in the last week!
Become a ✨SYSCA SUPPORTER✨ and get access to our weekly 🍿Culture Vulture newsy🍿, our special 📚bumper book list📚 and our 🎶SYSCA playlists🎶 (or just support us coz u love us 🥺)
Hey angels!! First of all, let me clear something up - yesterday a bunch of you messaged me to let me know there was a double up on the Taylor Swift story, and a lot of you also very kindly assumed that it was a ✨technical difficulty.✨I’m here to tell you that it was actually just a Luce-at-5am difficulty and once again I should not be trusted to write this thing every day.
Now, I also need to show you some messages that made my mfing heart SOAR. These are from Catherine, one of our gorgy followers (who also came to our Harry’s House listening party) and told us that her school was obsessed with SYSCA (which I adore.) Their class is doing a whole mini unit on us and it’s the coolest shit I’ve ever seen!!! Look!
(PS, always always always send me your photos/ stories about SYSCA in the wild - it’s my fave thing.)
And finally, tonight Liv and I are going to a pub to watch Love Island and I’m so pumped!!! (We’ll also be recording our final debrief on Wednesday, but don’t worry - I won’t be putting ANY spoilers in here!)
I am now the leader of the NZ arm of the Broski Nation
A perhaps unlikely rec from me
Netflix sues creators behind The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical
Myanmar military extends emergency rule until 2023
NZ has fully reopened its borders
What do you call the secondary brake in your car?
I am now the leader of the NZ arm of the Broski Nation
Now, not to flex, but we have a few ✨celebrities✨ in the SYSCAhood these days. We’ve got Ariana Grande, Blake Lively, Chrissy Teigan, Dan Levy, FINNEAS… even Joe Rogan (to name a few.) But none have hit me as hard as seeing our lord and saviour Brittany Broski pop up in our follow list. For those of you who don’t know, Brittany started off as the ‘Kombucha girl’ and then quickly became one of my favourite people on the internet. She's a hilarious breath of fresh air on my TikTok feed, a professional fangirl (the video of her meeting Harry sends me, and I love that she’s in her Austin Butler era right now) and I’m also calling it now that she’s the next James Corden/ Jimmy Fallon - she’s on her way to having the next late night talk show - I can feel it.
I will keep you in the loop about how this friendship grows (it’s going pretty well) and honestly my dream is to have her on an episode of the pod, so leave it w meeee 💘
A perhaps unlikely rec from me
I know that when you come to the SYSCA daily newsy you don’t expect me to talk about 🏏sports 🏏(unless it’s F1, of course.) Except, for the past few weeks, sports and identity have been becoming more and more of a thing that I’m thinking about (I’m looking at you Manly Warringah Sea Eagles), and if I’m thinking about it, then naturally I’m bringing it to you. Which brings me to today’s rec: this episode of Scratched by The Spinoff.
It looks at the career (and disappearance) of Heath Davis - a legendary fast bowler in NZ cricket, and the life that he didn’t feel he could live publicly (also spoiler - he's New Zealand's first gay Black Cap.)
You should watch it - or at least forward this email on to your parents who will defs be aware of Heath, and may have wondered what he’s up to these days.
Netflix sues creators behind The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical
Another reminder that we absolutely cannot have nice things, because laws do in fact exist. So you know Barlow and Bear, the two creators who started writing The Unofficial Bridgerton Musica on TikTok and then won a Grammy (and who also listen to Culture Vulture)?? Well, they’re being sued by Netflix.
The relationship between Barlow and Bear and Netflix (who house Bridgerton) all seemed to start off okay. In fact, in the beginning, Netflix probs thought that this fanfic style album/TikTok fun was excellent marketing for their lil (actually huge) Netflix show. This was them in the beginning:
They did however make it clear from the beginning that they did not ‘authorise’ the recording of this album - but they seemed to let it slide for quite a while, letting it win a Grammy with no fuss, and being kinda chill like that (who knows that meme?)
Now though, Barlow and Bear have started doing live performances of the album and selling merch aligned with it (and therefore aligned with Bridgerton), and Netflix… are no longer chill like that. In some Very Imp Documents, Netflix claims that Barlow and Bear “refused to negotiate a license that would allow them to distribute their album and hold live performances without issue” and that by doing live performances they were taking viewers away from ‘The Bridgerton Experience’ (their own live show.)
“Netflix supports fan-generated content, but Barlow & Bear have taken this many steps further, seeking to create multiple revenue streams for themselves without formal permission to utilize the Bridgerton IP [intellectual property.]”
“We’ve tried hard to work with Barlow & Bear, and they have refused to cooperate. The creators, cast, writers and crew have poured their hearts and souls into Bridgerton, and we’re taking action to protect their rights.”
Have the creators of the official Bridgerton said anything?
Actually yeah! Julia Quinn, (the author behind the Bridgerton book series) was “flattered and delighted” when Barlow and Bear started creating TikToks based on the concept at first. But now...
“There is a difference, however, between composing on TikTok and recording and performing for commercial gain,” Quinn says. “I hope that Barlow & Bear, who share my position as independent creative professionals, understand the need to protect other professionals’ intellectual property, including the characters and stories I created in the Bridgerton novels over twenty years ago.”
Also, Shonda Rhimes (the producer of the Bridgerton Netflix series) said:
“What started as a fun celebration by Barlow & Bear on social media has turned into the blatant taking of intellectual property solely for Barlow & Bear’s financial benefit,” Rhimes adds. “Just as Barlow & Bear would not allow others to appropriate their IP for profit, Netflix cannot stand by and allow Barlow & Bear to do the same with Bridgerton.”
And have Barlow and Bear said anything?
Not that I’ve seen yet!
As much as I hate to admit it - I do kinda get it from Netflix’s POV. As much as I love Barlow and Bear, and I love supporting creators of fanfiction of any type, we also have to think about the creators of the OG Bridgerton (I’m not here to defend Netflix, they have lawyers for that.) I loved watching the Bridgerton musical come to life, but I did wonder how far was too far in terms of the ✨law✨ and now we know. Would absolutely LOVE to know your thoughts on this story my angels!
Myanmar military extends emergency rule until 2023
Damn. Today in Myanmar news, the military (who re-took over the government in a coup in 2021) have extended their ‘emergency rule’ until 2023 (... and beyond probably, because they get to make the rules.) They’ve said they want to hold ‘free and fair elections (I will believe that when I see it) but right now because of in-fighting in the country, they’re having to extend their rule.
NZ has fully reopened its borders
For the first time since covid hit in 2020, all of our borders have been opened up to international visitors! There will be people out there who have commentary on this I’m sure! Me? I don’t really!
What do you call the secondary brake in your car?
First of all, I was inspired to ask this question by a TikTok I saw, and then we had THIS CUTE AS HELL INTERACTION where the original creator made a video wondering if they were the inspo behind our poll and they were!! Lots of cute internet stuff happening at the moment, I love it! Anyway the poll:
33% call it a parking brake
56% call it a hand brake
11% call it other (you’re all saying e-brake or emergency brake)
Luce needs to take a break
Can you separate the art and the artist? (Culture Vulture)
Inflation and Recession, Explained (The Shit Show)
Our Love Island Debrief (Culture Vulture)
SYSCA playlist (✨Supporters only✨)
Our HUGE SYSCA reading list! (✨Supporters only✨)