FOX Being Sued By Writers Claiming 'New Girl' Is Plagiarized From Their Work
Credit: FOX
Plagiarism isn't just for Shia LeBeouf, apparently. Two screenwriters are claiming FOX has plagiarized their work to form the basis of the successful sitcom, New Girl.
Writers Stephanie Counts and Shari Gold allege, in a lawsuit filed in California federal court on Thursday, that the comedy series is based upon their script work on a proposed television pilot titled Square One, which shares significant similarities with the FOX comedy. Besides money and credit, Counts and Gold demand an injunction halting further production and distribution of New Girl.
According to the lawsuit, Counts and Gold met each other as journalism students at the University of Georgia, and became writing partners in 2006 when they created a script based around "Stephanie’s real-life experience when she discovered her husband was having an affair, leading her to move into a three-man bachelor pad."
As soon as Counts and Gold completed a first draft of the script, they shared it with independent producer Holly Harter, who allegedly told them it would work better as a film. And so the writing duo rewrote the script, and then spent the next several years shopping it around.
In 2008, Harter supposedly emailed Counts and informed her that she had sent a solicited copy to Adam Venit, a partner at talent agency WME, also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Several months later, the script was shopped by WME to potential directors, resulting in the script receiving "coverage," which essentially stamps the script with a favorable grade, which then allows it to be accessed by all WME agents.
Counts and Gold allege they suggested to Harter that Zooey Deschanel should be the series lead. However, Harter reportedly didn't know who the the actress was. Ultimately, Counts and Gold came to the decision to cut ties with Harter, as the duo felt Harter wasn't giving them any explanation for why Square One remained "on the backburner when the script [had] been receiving considerable interest from agents at a top talent agency."
Further details on the lawsuit from The Hollywood Reporter:
According to the lawsuit, "Any differences between the Square One scripts and New Girl are so small and insignificant that they cannot be afforded copyright protection, and are, in fact, nothing more than transparent attempts to hide Defendants’ blatant plagiarism. These differences are more akin to eraser marks or ink blots on Stephanie and Shari’s creation and cannot be treated as original expression."Demonstrating substantially similarity is crucial for plaintiffs, but perhaps just as important, especially for unknown writers, is the necessity of telling a credible story about how the defendants gained access to the allegedly stolen work. In a 92-page complaint, the plaintiffs attempt one, probably in anticipation of a defense that New Girl came about through "independent creation." The plaintiffs' tale includes allegations how Counts and Gold shopped their script through William Morris Endeavor, how they once proposed Zooey Deschanel for the lead and how Fox made a $10,000 settlement offer
Counts says she spoke on the phone with [talent agent David] Karp, but that in-person meetings fell through due to scheduling conflicts. Afterward, WME's attitudes allegedly changed toward them. The plaintiffs had trouble getting their calls returned.
Things only got nastier from there.
The lawsuit reads: "On February 17, 2011, Stephanie and Shari become dismayed when, for the first time, they hear that their work Square One appears to have been poached," says the lawsuit. "A friend who had read Square One, emails Stephanie and Shari that the logline and summary of a show under development, titled Chicks and Dicks, sounds remarkably similar to Square One."
And the rest was history.
Allegedly, Chicks and Dicks became New Girl, and WME client Elizabeth Meriwether received sole credit as series creator. This apparently happened as a result of WME agent Cori Wellins and WME partner Rick Rosen passing along the script for Square One to Meriwether and Meriwether Pictures, along with the production companies of TV luminary Peter Chernin, yet another defendant named in the suit.
So what other similarities do the two series share other than the premise?
The lawsuit provides a list: "both protagonists are awkward, quirky women around the age of 30;" "the plot of both works revolves around the protagonist moving in with three guys;" "the three new guy roommates in each work have identical personality traits;" "the best friend in each work is named 'CeC'” or has the initials 'C.C.;'" and "the protagonists are both sexually inexperienced."
Of course, the big question you probably all have is why Counts and Gold are waiting until now to make these claims. Well, apparently, they've attempted to receive recognition for their work in the past.
In 2011, Counts and Gold acquired a lawyer to inform the defendants that they were infringing on Square One's copyright. However, in a rare conflict of interest, the lawyer they hired also represented Jake Kasdan, who directed the New Girl pilot. The lawyer claimed this wouldn't become a factor in the proceedings so long as Kasdan was not included as a defendant in the complaint. So Counts and Gold agreed not to name Kasdan as a defendant, and together, they moved forward with a lawsuit. But when FOX came back with a pathetic $10,000 offer to shut them up, the duo fired their lawyer and made plans to refile a formal, public court complaint. And, hell, I can't really blame them.
And so it is now, as Counts and Gold are represented by Andrew Ryan at Ryan Law in a lawsuit that seeks compensatory, statutory, punitive and exemplary damages. Not only do they wish to be compensated, but Counts and Gold also demand credit as the true creators of New Girl. In addition, the plaintiffs want the defendants to "issue a public apology."
So there you have it. Either this is one hell of a coincidence, or FOX is taking a page out of the Shia LeBeouf playbook.
What do you think? Do Counts and Gold have a case here? Or are they biting off more than they can chew? Sound off in the comments!