The Creators of STRANGER THINGS Are Being Sued For Allegedly Stealing The Idea For Their Series

Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer have had a lawsuit filed against them and are being sued for allegedly stealing the idea for their hit Netflix series. 

The person suing them is Charlie Kessler and it's for "breach of implied contract". He claims that he pitched them his idea for a sci-fi story that is set near an abandoned military base during a party at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival and that they took his idea and ran with it.

Kessler made a short film called Montauk and even wrote a movie script called The Montauk Project. His story is set in the New York City of the same name which he says is home to "various urban legends, and paranormal and conspiracy theories."

The thing about Montauk is that a lot of people knew about those crazy and wild conspiracy theories that came from there! They've been around for years and they involve secret U.S. government experiments with the supernatural. Some of those things include tales of time-traveling battleships, recovered memories, psychic powers, kids being kidnapped and sent through portals into other dimensions, conjuring monsters, and more. 

So it's not like this whole thing is an original idea in the first place. The inspiration came from stories that are believed by some to have actually happened. You can read a breakdown of some of those stories here and you will easily see the similarities of Stranger Things. 

So these stories existed before Kessler and the Duffer Bros. started developing their projects. These ideas seem like they are free game, but Kessler is seeking an injunction ordering the Duffers to "stop using his concepts and to destroy all materials based on those concepts, as well as restitution, lost profits and punitive damages."

Wow! It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I have no idea if what Kessler is claiming is true, but when success and money is involved, there are always people out there that will come out of the woodworks to try and cash in on it by suing the people that have found success. 

The short film has been pulled off the internet so you can't watch it at the moment to compare it with Stranger Things. If the Duffer Bros. did end up stealing specific aspects of the concept, that would suck, but we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Kessler v Duffer by ashley6cullins on Scribd