A director from India accuses Netflix of plagiarism: the scandal surrounding "The Squid Game"

The streaming platform Netflix has been sued by Indian director Soham Shah. He assures that the format and plot of the series and reality show "The Squid Game" is a plagiarism of his film "Luck", which was released in 2009.

Lawsuit against Netflix

Shah went to New York federal court to defend his position. In his lawsuit, the director insists that the basic plot, characters, themes, mood and sequence of events in The Squid Game are strikingly similar to his film Luck.

"The basic plot, characters, themes, mood, setting and sequence of events in 'The Squid Game' are strikingly similar to 'Luck', excluding any possibility of mere coincidence, " the lawsuit states.

Plot similarities

The Hindi film Udacha follows a group of desperate, debt-ridden people who are lured into a series of competitive games to win large sums of money. However, the contestants later learn that losing means death. This plot is surprisingly similar to the concept of The Squid Game, which raises the question of copyright.

Response from Netflix

Netflix has already responded to the lawsuit. A representative of the company said that Shah's statement has no basis.

"The Squid Game" was written by Hwang Dong-hyeok, and we intend to vigorously defend the project, " the company said.

Next steps

Soham Shah is seeking damages and an injunction against airing the series and reality show. Exactly how much money Shah wants to receive is not stated in the lawsuit. The first season of the show was released in 2021, and the premiere of the second will take place very soon - on December 26.

Editor: Emiliia Morozova