The ‘Stranger Things’ creators are getting sued for plagiarism

The lawsuit is pretty convincing though – back in 2014 at a party at the Tribeca Film Festival, Kessler pitched an idea for a TV show based on his film to the Duffers, and then later “presented materials” from their representatives involving the proposed project.

Then – and here’s the clincher – a short year later, the Duffers sold Stranger Things to Netflix, but back then it held the provisional title of, yep, Montauk.

And oh, guess what? Stranger Things was originally set in Montauk, too. It’s all there, and it’s all rather plausible. Of course, the Duffers could simply claim they based their series on the same conspiracy theory – nobody has copyright on the public domain – but it might be a tough sell.

There’s no word on whether this will go to trial yet, but considering the evidence, I think we should at least hear Kessler out – this doesn’t look to have come from nowhere. Either way, the Duffer brothers have responded, well sort of.

Alex Kohner, the Duffer brothers’ lawyer has released an official statement. It reads: “Mr. Kessler’s claim is completely meritless. He had no connection to the creation or development of ‘Stranger Things.’ The Duffer Brothers have neither seen Mr. Kessler’s short film nor discussed any project with him. This is just an attempt to profit from other people’s creativity and hard work.”

We’ll keep you posted on how things play out.