Only two months before the premiere of Squid Game season 2, Netflix is in a legal battle against Luck director Soham Shah. The filmmaker shocked fans worldwide by filing a lawsuit against Netflix and Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-Hyuk, accusing them of plagiarizing his 2009 film. But this series has faced accusations of plagiarism before. Here’s everything known about the controversy.
Not the First Time
In 2021, accusations arose that Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-Hyuk plagiarized the 2014 Japanese film As the Gods Will, which featured the deadly game as its plot. Both titles have the same rules and punishments for players. As The Gods Will used the Japanese game Daruma, while Squid Game used “Red“ Light, “Green“ Light, and a children’s game called Hibiscus Flowers Had Bloomed.
During the press conference, Hwang addressed the alleged similarities. He stated he wrote the script years before “As The Gods Will,“ which was created in early 2010. The plagiarism accusations don’t end there.
“Luck“ Director Strikes First
Two months before the grand reveal of Squid Game season 2, Indian director Soham Shah filed a lawsuit in New York federal court on Friday, calling “Squid Game“ a blatant rip-off of his Hindi film Luck. Both the movie and the series revolve around the story of a group of desperate and indebted people enticed to participate in a series of competitive games to win large sums of money or face death if they lose. According to the reports, Shah seeks unspecified damages and an injunction to prevent Netflix from infringing his copyrights by marketing and streaming Squid Game.
As Bloomberg reported, Shah stated that the main plot, characters, themes, mood, setting, and sequence of events of Squid Game are strikingly similar to Luck’s, defying any likelihood of it being a coincidence. He claimed that the film premiered in parts of the US, UK, and UAE in 2009 and that Squid Game’s creator also wrote the series in 2009. Shah alleges that Netflix continues to infringe his copyrights with works derived from Squid Game, including its reality TV competition and upcoming immersive experience. If he wins, he’ll prevent Netflix from profiting, streaming, and marketing Squid Game.
Netflix Strikes Back, Backs Squid Game
Squid Game made history in 2022 as the first foreign-language drama to win top honors at the Emmy Awards and remains Netflix’s biggest launch in history. Hence, this news had them in protective mode. In response to Shah’s lawsuit, a Netflix spokesperson stated that the claim has no merit. Hwang Dong-Hyuk created and wrote Squid Game and the streaming giant intends to defend this matter vigorously. Many anticipate this as a complex legal battle against the streaming giant and director Shah.
Final Thoughts
People on the internet are divided about the current situation. The idea of indebted and desperate people being thrown into a deadly game remains a new experience, so these plagiarism accusations are quite hard to digest. Both sides are ready to fight for what they believe is right. These issues, despite being daunting, still add to the hype as people await the premiere of Squid Game season 2. The series, starring Lee Jung-Jae and Gong Yoo, remains slated for premiere on December 26, 2024.
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