Squid Game accused of plagiarizing 2009 Indian movie: Netflix denies everything

Indian filmmaker Soham Shah has filed a lawsuit against Netflix for copying his movie Luck to create the popular series Squid Game. The creators of the Internet hit called the accusations groundless.

Shah's movie was released in Hindi in 2009, while Squid Game was released in 2021, the Independent writes. The work of director Hwang Dong-hyuk is a South Korean dystopian series that tells the story of a group of participants who have no money. They fight to the death for a fateful sum. The show quickly became the most popular on Netflix of all time, with more than 142 million accounts joining the viewing in the first four weeks after its release, outpacing the romantic series  Bridgerton.

Shah's film tells the story of a group of people recruited by an "underworld kingpin" to participate in a "series of challenges designed to test their 'luck' factor as gamblers around the world place bets on them," according to the official synopsis on IMDB.

"The main plot, characters, themes, mood, setting and sequence of events of Squid Game are strikingly similar to that of Luck, defying any likelihood that such similarities could be coincidence," the Indian director's lawsuit says, according to Bloomberg.

According to the document, Shah wrote his screenplay "around 2006," while Hwang wrote his in 2009, the same year that Luck was released, TMZ reports. The report also says that Netflix had access to the movie Luck because it was released in theaters in India, the UK, the US and the UAE in July 2009, and because of "significant advertising and marketing."

Soham's lawsuit also alleges that Netflix continues to infringe his copyrights by creating further content based on Squid Game, such as a reality show set to release in 2023 and an immersive theater scheduled to launch in New York City in October. He believes the show has increased Netflix's market value by more than $900 million.

Shah is seeking reimbursement of unspecified damages, as well as an injunction against Netflix from infringing his copyright by marketing and broadcasting Squid Game, profiting from the sale of merchandise, and developing other shows and works that may infringe in the future. Netflix responded to this in a statement, "This claim has no merit. Squid Game was created by and written by Hwang Dong-hyuk and we intend to defend this matter vigorously."

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