Stranger Things plagiarism lawsuit dropped two days before trial

Deadline

Plaintiff Charles Kessler has withdrawn his lawsuit alleging that Matt and Ross Duffer stole his idea for their hit Netflix series from a six-minute short film he made in 2012. The case was scheduled to go on trial Tuesday. "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 in a statement Sunday. “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 As a result, I have withdrawn my claim and I will be making no further comment on this matter.” Netflix was happy to see the lawsuit withdrawn, since the trial might have revealed some of its trade secrets. “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,” said Netflix in a statement. “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.”