It's been reported that the creators of Stranger Things and streaming service Netflix are being sued for allegedly stealing the idea for the show from an unpublished screenplay.
According to Digital Spy, the lawsuit issued by production company Irish Rover Entertainment claims that Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer copied the show's concept from its TV series project, called Totem.
The screenplay for Totem was written by Jeffrey Kennedy, who is responsible for the series' "plot, sequence, characters, theme, dialogue, mood, and setting, as well as copyrighted concept art".
The lawsuit states that both shows are linked by Aaron Sims, who helped Kennedy develop Totem, then later went on to provide the concept art for Stranger Things.
Kennedy says that the idea for Totem was inspired by the death of Clint Osthimer, a childhood friend who suffered from epilepsy.
The lawsuit reads: "During their childhood together in rural Indiana, Osthimer and Kennedy dealt with the
"These lightning showers or seizures would send him to an alternate supernatural plane where the demon resided."
The claim goes on to draw several comparisons between the two shows, noting that they have the same basic premise.
In Totem, one of the characters is a young girl named Kimimela, who possesses supernatural powers. With the help of her friends, Kimimela finds a portal gate to a supernatural dimension where they battle a dark spirit named Azrael and his army of Blackwolf.
The lawsuit claims that Stranger Things' premise is an exact copy of the premise, with the girl instead named Eleven and the dark spirit replaced with a shadow monster and his army of Demogorgon.
In response to the lawsuit, a Netflix representative told The Wrap: "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for years, even though Netflix has repeatedly explained to him that The Duffer Brothers had never heard of him or his unpublished script until he began threatening to sue them.
'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."
