Shine forced to rename Just Dance after spat with Ubisoft

Shine has been forced to rename its primetime dance show Just Dance after a legal spat with Ubisoft, the games company that is launching a console game of the same name, TBIvision has learned. The show will now go out under the name Got To Dance, which Shine has cleared for all markets.

The 8x60mins show is being produced by Shine TV and Princess, both part of the Shine Group, for pay TV channel Sky 1. The £5 million-budget series was the first entertainment show greenlit by Duncan Gray, the former ITV controller of entertainment and now Sky1, 2 and 3 commissioning editor. The nationwide auditions have taken place and the show will go out in January.

Shine has had to amend all marketing materials in line with the name change, but denied anyone had lost their job over the incident.

It is understood that Shine was aware ‘Just Dance’ was registered elsewhere, but thought an agreement could be reached with Ubisoft. However, negotiations between the legal teams of Shine and the games company failed to lead to a solution that would have allowed the show to go out under its original name.

“‘Just Dance‘ was always a working title and one pertinent for the auditions stage, the show will air as ‘Got To Dance‘, a name it is felt best conveys the spirit of the programme and the talent and enthusiasm of the participants,” a Shine Group spokesman told TBIvision. “Production have always been aware that the working title existed in other non-TV related areas, that a license would be necessary in the event of using it on air and negotiations took place to ascertain the feasibility of this.”

A Ubisoft spokesperson said: “The negotiations remained cordial until the end. Shine and Ubisoft could not reach a common agreement that would satisfy both parties so Shine decided to change the name of their show.”

Ubisoft’s Just Dance, for the Nintendo Wii console, will be released on November 17.