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Michael Tran

Stranger Things creators respond to filmmaker's plagiarism claims

Director Charlie Kessler is seeking monetary damages and a jury trial.

THE CREATORS OF, the Netflix mega-hit, Stranger Things are entering the upside down world of litigation after being hit with a lawsuit by a director who claims they stole ideas from his 2012 short film Montauk.

Director Charlie Kessler alleges that Matt and Ross Duffer lifted ideas about top-secret government experiments from his film after he presented them with the “script, ideas, story and film” in April 2014.

According to the lawsuit, which was filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, Stranger Things was originally called The Montauk Project and it was set in the Long Island town.

Shutterstock / Tinseltown Shutterstock / Tinseltown / Tinseltown

The suit claims that Stranger Things has many elements that are also present in the 2012 film, including children with enhanced abilities, secret government projects and a monster from another dimension.

Both the show and the film are inspired by the conspiracy theory that the US government conducted secret experiments on humans at Montauk Air Force Station.

“After the massive success of Stranger Things that is based on Plaintiff’s concepts that Plaintiffs discussed with Defendants, Defendants have made huge sums of money by producing the series based on Plaintiff’s concepts without compensating or crediting Plaintiff for his Concepts,” the suit says.

Kessler, who has worked on a number of Netflix shows including Daredevil and Luke Cage, is suing for breach of implied contract and is seeking monetary damages and a jury trial.

The Duffer brother’s attorney, Alex Kohner, issued a statement dismissing the lawsuit as an “attempt to profit from other people’s creativity and hard work.”

Mr Kessler’s claim is completely meritless. He had no connection to the creation or development of Stranger Things. The Duffer Brothers have neither seen Mr Kessler’s short film nor discussed any project with him.

Production on the third season of Stranger Things is expected to begin this month.

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    Mute Dessie Deratta
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    Apr 5th 2018, 12:52 AM

    I like Stranger Things….better than the average series.

    81
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    Mute Toomasu Sumitsu
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    Apr 5th 2018, 8:27 AM

    @Dessie Deratta: they should use that quote in their next advertising campaign

    28
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    Mute Ted Murray
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    Apr 5th 2018, 12:26 AM

    US TV programmes and Movies have been telling the same stories since the 1920s, and have just changed the time, the names of the characters, and the location, hoping that people think that they’re new ideas.

    61
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    Mute Daniel Wilson
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    Apr 5th 2018, 8:28 AM

    @Ted Murray: you sure it wasn’t the 30s? Some pretty original stuff back in the 20s

    11
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    Mute Robc
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    Apr 5th 2018, 12:30 AM

    First series ok
    Second series sh!te

    50
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    Mute Andy K
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    Apr 5th 2018, 7:20 AM

    @Robc: Second series was a huge disappointment.

    15
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    Mute A Piece of Chalk
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    Apr 4th 2018, 11:37 PM

    Awful programme. Whole thing felt like one big Stephen King ripoff.

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    Mute Stephen Boland
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    Apr 5th 2018, 12:11 AM

    @A Piece of Chalk: explain… what Stephen King novels did it rip off exactly? Is it just because a lot of King novels were adapted into movies (albeit mostly poorly) in the 80s?

    67
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    Mute Ted Murray
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    Apr 5th 2018, 12:20 AM

    @Stephen Boland: ___ Don’t forget the “like watching paint dry” TV “epic” – The Mist that had the plug pulled after one season.

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Apr 5th 2018, 12:38 AM

    @Ted Murray: the movie was good though.

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Apr 5th 2018, 12:39 AM

    @A Piece of Chalk: wasn’t a rip off. The creators have a clue owledged a few hat tips to King’s work and he has in turn complimented the show and said he’s happy to have inspired

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    Mute Dessie Deratta
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    Apr 5th 2018, 12:51 AM

    @Dave O Keeffe: What?

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    Mute Andy K
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    Apr 5th 2018, 7:21 AM

    @Dave O Keeffe: Best ending of any movie. Ever. Better than the ending in the book.

    6
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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Apr 5th 2018, 11:08 AM

    @Andy K: the tragic ending? There were a few endings filmed. I’ve definitely seen two.

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Apr 5th 2018, 11:09 AM

    @Dessie Deratta: sorry *acknowledged. New phone, same old problems

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    Mute Danny Rafferty
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    Apr 5th 2018, 5:52 AM

    Well I thought it lifted more from Lovecraft than King, and enjoyed it all the more.

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    Mute Andy Cahalan
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    Apr 5th 2018, 5:43 AM

    What about the two lads who actually made up the story back in the 80′s? Both parties involved are plagiarists anyway.

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    Mute Seán Ó Briain
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    Apr 5th 2018, 1:01 PM

    One of the best shows of the past 10 years. Love it.

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    Mute Dave McCrea
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    Apr 5th 2018, 2:27 PM

    Are his lawyers idiots? “Defendants have made huge sums of money by producing the series based on Plaintiff’s concepts”. I don’t even have a law degree and I’m coming right back with “a concept is not copyrightable intellectual property, only the expression of it is”, which is so basic a ‘concept’ it was a line in Fatal Attraction. (Bang the gavel sound). NEXT!

    3
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