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Pryor Cashman won a dismissal in California Superior Court of a case alleging that its clients, Fox Broadcasting, Dick Clark Productions and 19 Entertainment, had misappropriated the idea for the dance-themed reality contest program “So You Think You Can Dance.” The four plaintiffs, all claiming some professional involvement in the entertainment industry, alleged that they had submitted a detailed treatment for their concept to Martin Erlichman Associates, management for Barbra Streisand, to bring to Creative Artists Agency for shopping around the industry. Plaintiffs alleged that their concept, which was in the genre of 19 Entertainment’s American Idol, was then submitted to the firm’s clients by Erlichman and/or CAA.

Claiming that the elements of Pryor Cashman's clients’ program matched their written concept, plaintiffs asserted claims of implied-in-fact contract, unfair business practices, false advertising and for an accounting. The court granted the motion filed by Pryor Cashman partners James Janowitz and Tom Ferber and associates Nia Castelly and Matthew Cooper, dismissing with prejudice all of the claims against the firm’s clients on the grounds that plaintiffs did not have any valid claims against Fox Broadcasting, Dick Clark Productions and 19 Entertainment.