Simon Cowell Takes on BBC Over New Talent Show  12/16/05

British music mogul Simon Cowell is considering suing the BBC claiming they stole the idea of his next TV talent show.

Both Cowell and the BBC recently announced new shows that would team pop stars with non-singing celebrities - but the American Idol judge claims his Star Duets has been in development for longer and has warned the corporation it risks copyright breach by going ahead with plans for The Two of Us.

The BBC insists any similarity between its show, which has been planned for over a year, and Cowell's version for ITV is purely coincidental.

Cowell says, "I don't know if we are going to sue yet. We will have to wait and see exactly how close it is to ours before we make out mind up. This sort of thing happens all the time in television; it's all about who gets there first with an idea."