Matt and Ross Duffer, creators of Netflix’s hit show Stranger Things, are headed to court after being denied a summary judgement for a plagiarism claim on Wednesday. The brothers are being accused of plagiarism by Charlie Kessler, who claims Stranger Things is based off a screenplay he wrote called The Montauk Project.
Kessler is claiming he had an implied contract when he spoke with the Duffers at the Tribeca FIlm Festival in 2014. The Duffer brothers of course deny these allegations claiming Stranger Things is their own original idea.
“Charlie Kessler asserts that he met the Duffers, then two young filmmakers whom Kessler never had heard of, and chatted with them for ten to fifteen minutes. That casual conversation — during which the Duffers supposedly said that they all ‘should work together’ and asked ‘what [Kessler] was working on’ — is the sole basis for the alleged implied contract at issue in this lawsuit and for Kessler’s meritless theory that the Duffers used his ideas to create Stranger Things.”
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While the Duffer brothers certainly want to prove that Stranger Things is their own original idea, there are other concerns stemming from the trial. The siblings have filed a motion to seal parts of the trial in order to prevent possible spoilers for future episodes of Stranger Things.
“Public disclosure threatens substantial harm not only to their legitimate privacy interests, but also as to their ongoing commercial efforts, including by revealing confidential information that may be included in future episodes of Stranger Things and weakening the Duffers’ (and Netflix’s) position in future commercial negotiations.”
Obviously, I have no idea who is telling the truth here, but I guess the lesson for the Duffers is to be careful how you word conversations with strangers at film festivals, and for Mr. Kessler, keep your ideas to yourself until you get something in writing.
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Source: THR
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