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The creators of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” are the subject of another lawsuit alleging that they stole the idea for the show from another writer’s screenplay.
The creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, have been accused in the past of ripping off the story for the hit Netflix series from a movie called “Honeymoon” that screened at the Tribeca Film Festival. However, that lawsuit was ultimately dropped. The latest complaint against them, which was filed in California federal court Wednesday, accuses the pair of something similar.
According to TheWrap, Irish Rover Entertainment claims “Stranger Things” copies heavily from the screenplay of a movie called “Totem” written by Jeffrey Kennedy, including “plot, sequences, characters, theme, dialogue, mood, and settings, as well as copyrighted concept art.”
NETFLIX DROPS 'STRANGER THINGS' SEASON 4 TEASER, ANSWERS A MAJOR CLIFFHANGER
'Stranger Things' creators Ross and Matt Duffer responded to allegations they stole the show's concept (Reuters)
The company is reportedly suing for copyright infringement and seeking unspecified damages.
“Mr. Kennedy has been peddling these far-fetched conspiracy theories for years, even though Netflix has repeatedly explained to him that The Duffer Brothers had never heard of him or his unpublished script until he began threatening to sue them,” a Netflix spokesperson told Fox News in a statement.
It continues: “After we refused to give in to his demands for a payoff, he filed this baseless lawsuit. There is no shortage of people who would like to claim credit for creating ‘Stranger Things.’ But the truth is the show was independently conceived by The Duffer Brothers, and is the result of their creativity and hard work.”
The lawsuit alleges that a man named Aaron Sims worked with Kennedy to develop the screenplay and also worked to create concept art for “Stranger Things.”
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Kennedy’s lawsuit alleges that there are many similarities between the two stories. “Totem,” which TheWrap reports he conceived after the death of his childhood friend who suffered from epilepsy, includes characters shifting in and out of an alternate dimension inhabited by demons. It also includes a young female character with supernatural powers that helps the main characters both enter and combat the world of the demons.
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