Netflix faces plagiarism lawsuit over 'Squid Game'

Streaming giant Netflix is facing a plagiarism lawsuit from an Indian filmmaker, for allegedly copying the plot of his film ‘Luck’ for the dystopian series ‘Squid Game’.

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As reported by Indian media outlets, Indian filmmaker Soham Shah, best known for his films like ‘Kaal’ and ‘Luck’, has sued Netflix over plagiarism claims, for allegedly copying the concept of his 2009 film, for the Korean-language smash hit, ‘Squid Game’.

Shah seeks to block the company from ‘infringing his Luck copyright’ with the lawsuit.

According to the details, Shah is also suing writer Hwang Dong Hyuk of ‘Squid Game’, for claiming the title is his original work, penned the same year as the theatrical release of ‘Luck’.

In the lawsuit, he claimed that the K-drama series has a similar plot to his thriller flick, about a group of desperate participants in a competition, taking on deadly challenges, to win a great sum of money. He argued that like his film, the prime characters of the game only realise the rude awakening once they are in the competition, and how the death of each participant, expands the final cash prize of all players alive.

While the jury has yet to give a final verdict on the matter, Netflix has vehemently denied the plagiarism allegations and believes it ‘has no merit’. “Squid Game was created by and written by Hwang Dong Hyuk and we intend to defend this matter vigorously,” said the streamer’s spokesperson.

Also Read: ‘Squid Game’ star Lee Jung Jae lands in legal trouble

It is to be noted here that ‘Luck’, headlined by Imran Khan, Shruti Haasan, Sanjay Dutt and Mithun Chakraborty, opened to a lukewarm response from critics and ultimately emerged as a box-office bomb.

Meanwhile, the long-awaited season 2 of ‘Squid Game’ will premiere on the portal on December 26 this year.