One of the ambiguities of BBC America's acclaimed series Orphan Black is where the show takes place. The drama about a group of clones is filmed in Toronto. Lead star Tatiana Maslany has an English accent for one of the characters she plays and an American accent for some of the others. It's not quite clear where the drama is set.
But thanks to a judge's ruling on Monday, a copyright lawsuit that alleges that Orphan Black was cloned from a screenplay submitted to producers a decade ago is going to take place in California.
Stephen Hendricks is suing BBC and series producer Temple Street Productions for allegedly infringing his own work titled "Double Double." The plaintiff claims in a $5 million lawsuit that in 2004, he submitted his work to Temple Street co-president David Fortier.
But thanks to a judge's ruling on Monday, a copyright lawsuit that alleges that Orphan Black was cloned from a screenplay submitted to producers a decade ago is going to take place in California.
Stephen Hendricks is suing BBC and series producer Temple Street Productions for allegedly infringing his own work titled "Double Double." The plaintiff claims in a $5 million lawsuit that in 2004, he submitted his work to Temple Street co-president David Fortier.
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Why do people wait until a show is in its prime to sue it? This show been on for 3 years now and NOW it's a problem? Probably a big nobody.
ReplyDeleteThe lawsuit started before season 2 began. It just took a while for it to reach the courts.
ReplyDeleteLikely to get more of the shows profits.
ReplyDeleteOften hear about these kind of lawsuits and very rarely does anything come from them. A story about clones, yeah that has never been written before in the history of sci-fi.
ReplyDeleteI thought the location of the show was meant to be ambiguious up until I saw the usage of money this season and was like, "Oh they're in Canada." Granted, I've never seen Canadian bills but it definiitly wasn't money from the U.S. Mint.
ReplyDeleteI never know where I stand on this issue...
ReplyDeleteI'm all for protecting original content, but so many concepts are derivative of a prior concept.. Where does it start... or end? Intellectual property is such a nebulous and hard to define area. Even assuming this guy's script was similar, how similar does it need to be before it legally is too similar in a legal sense? Who decides?
Based on what I read I do know where I stand on it reaching a California court... Pffft!
I'm from LA. This happened to a former roommate of mine and it also went to court. It definitely does happen. A lot of sharks here.
ReplyDeleteLet's be honest, Mr. Hendricks is using the lawsuit for publicity for his floundering career. As any screenwriter knows, before submitting any screenplay (especially to a production company), a submission agreement must be signed. The submission agreement says clearly that ideas may be similar and prevents any legal action. Mr. Hendricks knows this, and will get nowhere near the $5 asking price, if any. In fact, in order to have the case heard, he'll need to prove that it is "substantially similar" which is nearly impossible unless it's an exact word for word copy.
ReplyDeleteYou generally can't just sue someone straight away, the courts (well the lawyers before you get there) will tell you to go away and try to sort things out between yourselves first. Taking a case to court is the last resort/process for when a situation isn't resolved between two parties.
ReplyDeleteWell, unless it's some other currency with coloured bills, I can confirm they use Canadian currency.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone gotten a good look at their car plates? I always thought they were Ontario plates (usually white with blue letters). Either way, it does seem to take place in an ambiguous Canadian city.
Hmmm. Well if his work did get stolen, I feel bad for him. But, clones in sci-fi are not a new concept. In eighth grade for a writing assignment I did a story about a teenage guy who finds out he is a clone, he and other clones end up escaping from the grips of some organization. I mean my story was nothing like OB but still, sounds somewhat similar on paper, no? I think this is the same thing and this guy is just angry and/or desperate and/or just trying to get some cash.
ReplyDeleteIf the case is legit, good luck to him... but I hope the case gets stalled until well after the show is over and can't be affected by the outcome, because my love for this show definitely overrides my concern that some stranger's story could have been or not been stolen.
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ReplyDeleteThey're definitely in Toronto. At least they were in the pilot/first few episodes. When they first met Alison, it was mentioned she lives Scarborough. That's part of Toronto.
ReplyDeleteThe show takes place clearly in Toronto.
ReplyDeleteThe currency they use is Canadian and Allison live in Scarborough.
While they've never outright said it, he show has been set in Toronto from day 1 actually.
ReplyDeleteBut they've had indications about where it takes place in how they've referred to certain locations and such.
They're still here.
ReplyDelete