On the 13th (local time), Bloomberg reported that Indian film director Soham Shah has filed a lawsuit against Netflix in the U.S. District Court in New York, claiming that his 2009 film Luck was blatantly plagiarized by Squid Game.
Shah argues that his film Luck tells the story of “desperate people in significant debt who are lured into participating in a series of competitive games to make a lot of money.” He alleges that the main plot, characters, themes, atmosphere, setting, and sequence of events in Squid Game bear an astonishing similarity to Luck. Shah contends that this similarity goes beyond mere inspiration and constitutes a clear imitation of his film.
Luck is an action thriller released in India in 2009, depicting the process of characters risking their lives in dangerous games to win a massive reward. The characters compete fiercely to escape their dire situations, with only the last one standing receiving the prize. Shah claims that this plot closely mirrors the core content of Squid Game and that his copyright as the original creator has been infringed upon.
Additionally, Shah alleges that Netflix has continuously violated his copyright through reality TV game shows and immersive experiences derived from Squid Game, and he is seeking legal action to address these infringements.
He emphasizes that Squid Game has increased Netflix’s market value by over $900 million and is demanding unspecified damages, along with a copyright infringement injunction to prevent Netflix from generating revenue through Squid Game related marketing, streaming, merchandise sales, and content development in the future.
Since its release on Netflix in 2021, Squid Game has gained explosive popularity. The drama, set against the backdrop of wealth disparity and human desires in Korean society, tells the story of people participating in survival games. The game, which involves 456 participants competing to be the last one standing for a prize, features intense deception and betrayal under extreme conditions. The series achieved massive global popularity, setting records for the most viewing hours in Netflix history and winning awards including the Emmy for Best Director and Best Actor in a non-English language drama.
Netflix responded to Shah’s claims, calling them “baseless,” and stated, “Squid Game is a work created and written by Director Hwang Dong-hyuk, and we will strongly defend this matter.”
Meanwhile, the highly popular Squid Game will return with Season 2, scheduled for release on December 26, continuing the story of Gi-hun (played by Lee Jung-jae), the winner of Season 1.
Source: wikitree
