In a surprising turn of events, the trial against the Duffer Brothers has been cancelled after Charles Kessler withdrew his lawsuit. The trial was supposed to take place on May 7th, but Kessler officially withdrew his claim on Sunday May 5th that Stranger Things was plagiarized from one of his ideas, according to Deadline. Here is what Kessler had to say on the matter: “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. 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 As a result, I have withdrawn my claim and I will be making no further comment on this matter.”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 responded to the withdrawal in a statement: “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. 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.”
As mxdwn reported, attorneys from both sides created stipulations last week on who the jury should be and on what information they should be able access. The change began after the Duffers handed over documents that showed they had been working on the story all the way back in 2010, before the alleged discussion occurred between the brothers and Kessler in 2014. Matt Duffer explained that the ideas, actually originated as far back as in high school. “This is not some deep cut conspiracy,” Matt stated in his deposition testimony. “If you know anything about urban legends, you know this. You know about the Montauk Project.”
Aaron Moss, who works for a company specializing in intellectual property cases, remarked on the precedent this case could have set, making all Hollywood gatherings a source of potential liability. “If the mere act of asking somebody ‘What are you working on?’ and saying ‘We ought to work together’ is going to give rise to an obligation to pay for whatever happens to come out of the person’s mouth, I think we’re all in trouble,” said Moss. “It would create a situation where any reputable director or producer should never go to cocktail parties.”