Netflix Inc. has been accused by an Indian filmmaker of copying his 2009 film for its popularity Squid Game series as the corporate prepares to release the show’s second season later this 12 months.
Filmmaker Soham Shah sued Netflix in federal court in New York on Friday, claiming the show was a “blatant rip-off” of his Hindi-language film. Luckwhich tells the story of a “group of desperate, indebted people who are tricked into taking part in a series of competitions for the chance to win large sums of money,” and who later learn that defeat within the competitions means death.
“The main plot, characters, themes, mood, setting and sequence of events of Squid Game are strikingly similar to those of Luckand contradicts any likelihood that such similarities could be coincidental,” Shah said within the lawsuit.
Squid Game made history in 2022 as the primary foreign language drama to win top honors on the Emmy Awards. The series was Netflix’s biggest launch ever, with production costs reaching $21 million and viewers watching 1.65 billion hours of the series in only 4 weeks. It remained one in every of the service’s top shows for months, and Netflix announced in July that the second season could be released on December 26, with a 3rd and final season to follow in 2025.
A Netflix spokesperson didn’t immediately reply to an email and phone call searching for comment on the lawsuit.
This isn’t the primary time Netflix has faced copyright infringement claims over a few of its hottest content. In August 2023, the Los Gatos, California-based company agreed to a settlement in a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by an writer who claimed that key elements of his earlier screenplay called totem were used without his consent in Stranger Things.
Shah says Netflix continues to violate his copyrights for Luck with works from Squid Gameincluding a reality TV competition and an immersive experience set to launch in New York City next month. He says the show has increased Netflix’s market value by greater than $900 million.
Shah is searching for unspecified damages and an injunction stopping Netflix from exploiting its copyrights through the marketing and streaming of Squid Gametake advantage of the sale of merchandise and develop other shows and works which will infringe copyrights in the longer term.
The case is Shah v. Netflix Inc., 24-cv-6925, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
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