The Stranger Things plagiarism lawsuit came to an anti-climactic end mere days before it was set to go to trial.
Charles Kessler withdrew his lawsuit alleging that the Duffer Brothers lifted the idea for their wildly popular retro, sci-fi Netflix series from him. Kessler said that he made the decision to pull his lawsuit after talking to legal experts and reviewing documents that made it clear he and the Duffers arrived at their ideas independent of one another.
“After hearing the deposition testimony this week of the legal expert I hired, it is now apparent to me that, whatever I may have believed in the past, my work had nothing to do with the creation of Stranger Things,” Kessler said, perDeadline. “Documents from 2010 and 2013 prove that the Duffers independently created their show. As a result, I have withdrawn my claim and I will be making no further comment on this matter.”
Netflix celebrated with a statement reiterating its faith in Ross and Matt Duffer. The streaming giant also nodded toward the work that brought Stranger Things from an idea to a successful series, in a bit of a sly dig at people who might have had a similar idea that was not developed.
“We are glad to be able to put this baseless lawsuit behind us. As we have said all along, Stranger Things is a ground-breaking original creation by The Duffer Brothers,” the streaming company said. “We are proud of this show and of our friends Matt and Ross, whose artistic vision gave life to Stranger Things, and whose passion, imagination and relentless hard work alongside our talented cast and crew made it a wildly successful, award-winning series beloved by viewers around the world.”
Kessler filed his lawsuit back in April of 2018, asking for restitution and demanding that the show be pulled from Netflix. Angry fan backlash caused Kessler to amend his lawsuit, allowing for an outcome where Stranger Things could stay on the internet's airwaves.
Stranger Things season 3 drops July 4 on Netflix.
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