It’s simply too easy for people to claim that they created something years ago and that someone ‘ripped off’ their idea, especially without physical proof, copyright, or anything else that could condemn the creators of an original story. But on the flip side, it doesn’t mean that the Duffer brothers are entirely innocent without checking into it since the idea works both ways. There’s nothing to say that they would owe anyone anything if they heard tell of a story and then decided to take some type of inspiration from it to create their own. But there is such a thing as taking said stories and making them your own by NOT taking the entirety of the idea and calling it ‘original’. One thing about Stranger Things, as it looks at another possible lawsuit coming its way for stolen ideas, is that the Duffer brothers can’t claim that everything in the show is entirely original since like it or not they’ve been aided in a big way by pop culture almost the entire time. That same pop culture has existed long before the Duffer brothers came along with this hit show, so it’s not impossible to think that they might have co-opted more than a few ideas that people didn’t know about. From Dungeons & Dragons to Eggos to the very idea of an indoor mall in the 80s, the Duffer brothers have used existing ideas to help bolster Stranger Things in a big way. If those were to be removed it would create a huge impact in the show, and it’s likely that things might not have been the same.
But again, simply stating that the show is stealing ideas is way too easy since a lot of shows could make this claim and have just as many complaints when it comes to seeing their ideas being put in a different manner. But if Totem, which is apparently an unproduced screenplay that has the same story idea as Stranger Things but is obviously still different, turns out to have some validity, then the Duffer brothers could be in a spot of trouble. It doesn’t sound as though they’re too worried at this point, and it also doesn’t sound as though Netflix is about to turn on them and simply cancel a show that’s been helping the streaming site out so much in the recent past. But while it’s not a perfect claim it is still a claim that should be taken seriously. Stealing ideas is a very serious offense when it comes to writing and is also known as plagiarism in many circles. In this case, it’s fair to say that the offense isn’t so blatant that it’s a slam-dunk lawsuit since otherwise it feels as though Netflix and the Duffer brothers would have paid up to make this go away a little quicker so that people wouldn’t be talking about it.
The problem with Totem is this: it apparently never got off the ground. Some folks might think that would matter, that it would be therefore okay for the Duffer brothers to go ahead and let fly with their ideas, but that would be a huge mistake. There are laws protecting this kind of property from being used without the owner’s permission and they’re actually pretty strict, but also largely unknown to a lot of people unless one happens to be in the business. Seeing as how Totem was not likely to be in the public domain it’s also just as likely that anything having to do with the work would have been as off-limits as the work itself. The technicalities and loopholes that exist for this kind of thing go on and on for days, but the gist of it is that if it’s not yours, you have no right to use it. Where the Duffer brothers might be able to defend their actions comes from the idea that they could claim to know nothing of Totem and were under the impression that what they were being given by Aaron Sims, who worked with the creator of the Totem screenplay, was entirely original and all his. One big downside of this is that the Duffer brothers and Netflix are both attempting to discredit the writer by stating that his ‘conspiracy theories’ hold no weight and that the brothers have no knowledge of the work. Unfortunately when people get to talking it’s those that start denying that tend to be the ones that have something to hide. But in all fairness, if it’s found that there is no wrongdoing then the Duffer brothers will be in the clear and hopefully Stranger Things will continue without any more big hitches. On the other hand, if they’re caught in a lie, then it might be time to pay up. We’ll have to wait and see which one it is.
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