Ananova:

The makers of Wife Swap are accusing broadcasters in Germany, Hungary and Austria of ripping off their show after the success of the Channel 4 reality hit spawned a host of similar TV programmes.

RDF Media has sold the format for the hugely popular show all over the world, with versions already in production in Australia and the US.

But the company says it has been forced to seek legal advice over several European programmes bearing a strong resemblance to the British original.

One, a German show that has been attracting strong ratings for the broadcaster RTL2, is even called Frauentausch - the German for Wife Swap.

The programme's website describes the show as a "docu-soap" in which "two women from completely different worlds swap families" for 10 days.

RDF says Frauentausch has harmed its chances of getting its own show off the ground in Germany.

Ironically, it has a deal with RTL2's better-known sister company RTL to co-produce a series of Wife Swap. But it claims the rival show is hampering its efforts.

"We've seen RTL2's version on tape and it's an exact copy of Wife Swap," said Matthew Frank, the managing director of RDF's sales arm, RDF International.

"It rates very well which is making it difficult for us to launch our series - we're effectively losing money because of it.

"But German copyright laws are relatively lax, so from a legal point of view there's not a lot we can do," he added, reports Media Guardian.