An Indian filmmaker has filed a lawsuit against Netflix, accusing the service of copying his movie «Luck» to create the popular series «Squid Game».
Soham Shah filed the lawsuit in New York, claiming that «The Squid Game» is a copy of his film «Luck», which was released in Hindi in 2009. That film tells the story of a group of people «gifted with «luck» who are recruited by a «thief in the underworld» to participate in a «series of challenges aimed at testing their «luck factor» as gamblers from around the world place bets on them», according to the official synopsis on IMDB.
As a reminder, «Squid Game» is a South Korean dystopian series. It tells the story of a group of participants who fight to the death for a considerable amount of money, passing through various deadly challenges.
«The main plot, characters, themes, mood, setting, and sequence of events in «Squid Game» are strikingly similar to the plot of «Luck», negating any possibility that such similarities could be coincidental», — Shah said in the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Shah claims that he wrote his story «around 2006» and that Hwang Dong-hyeok wrote «The Squid Game» in 2009, the same year that «Luck» was released in theaters. Shah also stated that Netflix may have had access to «Luck» because the film was released worldwide in July 2009 in theaters in India, the UK, the US, and the UAE, and had «significant advertising and marketing».
Shah’s lawsuit also alleged that Netflix continued to infringe his copyright in «Luck» by creating additional content derived from «The Squid Game», such as a reality series that was released in 2023 and an immersive experience scheduled to launch in New York City in October. Additionally, he claimed that the series increased Netflix’s market value by over $900 million.
Shah is seeking unspecified damages, as well as an injunction against Netflix from infringing his copyright by marketing and broadcasting «The Squid Game», profiting from the sale of merchandise, and developing other series and works that may infringe his copyright in the future.
In its statement, Netflix refutes these allegations as groundless:
«This claim is unfounded. «The Squid Game» was created and written by Hwang Dong-hyeok, and we intend to vigorously defend this matter».
In 2021, several Indians published in X about the similarities between «Squid Game» and «Luck».
I think I downloaded wrong Squid Game. pic.twitter.com/ZccIxnkE9z
— Mucifer Lorningstar (@Nayzraf) September 30, 2021
The premiere of the second season of «The Squid Game» is scheduled for December 26 this yearand the third and final season is scheduled for 2025.
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