PHILADELPHIA — Former “Survivor” contestant Gervase Peterson is suing Goldin Auctions — the sports memorabilia juggernaut helmed by Ken Goldin — and Netflix over who is the true creator of a new reality show that chronicles the day-to-day happenings of the South Jersey auction house.
The show in question is “King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch,” which premiered on the streaming platform in April. Described as “Pawn Stars with a lot higher stakes,” it follows the eponymous Goldin and his head of auctions and revenue, Dave Amerman, as they acquire and sell coveted sports collectibles, from rare trading cards to contracts signed by Babe Ruth.
Peterson, a Philadelphia native, alleges that the show rips off a screenplay he wrote in 2019 with the consent of auction house staff for an unrealized reality series called “The Goldin Boys,” which also follows “Ken and his boys at Goldin Auctions [as they] travel around the country acquiring and selling some of sports’ most valuable items,” per a synopsis obtained by The Inquirer.
Peterson and two other plaintiffs — Richard Berger, a former employee of Goldins’, and Skye Dennis, a producer who worked on the nascent “Goldin Boys” — are suing Netflix, Goldin and his Runnemede-based auction house for copyright infringement. They’re seeking credit for “King of Collectibles,” for the show to be removed from the platform, and for subsequent seasons to be canceled, as well as unspecified monetary damages.
“This was their proverbial baby,” said Samuel Fineman, a lawyer with the Cherry Hill-based firm Cohen Fineman representing Peterson, Berger, and Dennis. “Their role was upended as creators.”
Goldin declined to comment. Jonathan Parente, a lawyer with Alston & Bird representing Goldin Auctions, said the case is “without merit.”
Netflix did respond to requests for comments.
‘Strikingly and substantially similar’
The 12-page lawsuit centers on similarities between a sizzle reel used to get network attention for “The Goldin Boys” with Goldin and Amerman, and the first episode of the Netflix show.
Peterson and Berger wrote the premise of “The Goldin Boys” in summer 2019, and their copyright for the concept was registered with the U.S Copyright Office that August.
From there, the duo began shopping around the show while working on the sizzle reel that would be produced by Dennis.
The reel, shot over the course of December 2019 in New Jersey and Florida, centered on the dynamic between Goldin and Amerman as they pore over contracts signed by Jackie Robinson and visit Rip Hamilton, an NBA legend who spent nine seasons with the Detroit Pistons. Goldin Auctions agreed to pay preproduction and production expenses, per the suit, which totaled $8,700.
The completed sizzle reel caught the interest of “Pawn Stars” producer Rick Harrison in April 2020. Since then, the lawsuit alleges, there’s been “radio silence from … Goldin and Goldin Auctions with respect to plans for the production of ‘The Goldin Boys’ in any media format.”
Peterson, Berger and Dennis learned of “King of Collectibles” through promotions that led up to the series’ premiere, according to the suit.
“We don’t know anything about how the series came about, what Ken was paid, what the show’s worth,” Fineman said. “We don’t know anything about anything having to do with Ken or ‘King of Collectibles.’”
The lawsuit alleges that “The Goldin Boys” and “King of Collectibles” are “strikingly and substantially similar” in pacing and format, since both weave interviews with sports luminaries into the plot. Amerman plays the same role in both works “as an affable second-in-command … who is either hardly working or working hard,” reads the suit.
The pilot of the Netflix series includes a segment on how to accurately appraise a game jersey from Jackie Robinson, which Peterson, Berger, and Dennis contend mirrors the Robinson tie-in from their reel.
The lawsuit concludes that the creation, distribution and advertisement of “King of Collectibles” was committed with “reckless disregard” for Peterson, Berger, Dennis and their copyrighted premise.
The series “[has] damages, and if not enjoined, will continue to damage the plaintiffs,” the lawsuit concludes.