An Alabama woman failed to convince a judge that a Denver-based production company stole her idea for a mother-daughter home renovation show that now airs on HGTV.

Melanie Tolbert filed a copyright infringement claim last year against High Noon Entertainment, claiming the show “Good Bones” was similar to a pitch she sent to producers in 2014 for a home renovation program. Tolbert’s concept, called “Like Mother, Like Daughter,” and the accompanying teaser video reportedly went to more than a dozen producers and executives affiliated with HGTV. 

However, High Noon and HGTV employees testified that a search began in late 2013 for a show along those lines. A casting producer found Two Chicks and a Hammer, an Indianapolis business of Karen Leine and Mina Starsiak. High Noon completed a cut of a “sizzle reel” by February 2014 featuring the mother-daughter team, who became the stars of the ultimate show.

Although Tolbert cast doubt on the timeline, High Noon claimed that Tolbert’s teaser featured material common to many home-renovation shows, including “entering a bathroom decorated with flowers, portraying them celebrating a success with a high five, taping them in scenes with cute dogs (or cats), [and] showing them at a table looking at design plans.”

In a June 29 order, U.S. District Court Judge Daniel D. Domenico dismissed the case, finding Tolbert only provided circumstantial evidence that producers had an opportunity to view and copy her show pitch.

There is “no actual evidence that any of the third-party producers passed on the idea to anyone at HGTV, let alone an HGTV executive who contributed to ‘Good Bones’,” he wrote.

The case is Tolbert v. High Noon Productions LLC.