The Tetris movie on Apple TV+ was copied from a book written years ago, according to Apple TV sued Tech giant and Tetris Inc. Dan Ackerman, Editor-in-Chief gizmodoaccused prosecutors of tearing up his book Tetris effect, which tells the history of the game in the form of a Cold War-era thriller. in lawsuit (PDF, trans Reuters), Ackerman said he sent The Tetris Company and its CEO Maya Rogers a pre-release copy of his book in 2016. Later that year, his agent received a “stern cease and desist letter” to bar him from pursuing film and television opportunities.
Ackerman accused Rogers of working with screenwriter Noah Pink to develop a screenplay using content taken from his book without his knowledge or consent. Apparently, several producers have shown interest in adapting his book, but The Tetris Company refused to license their IP for the project. “This was done at the direction and guidance of Mrs. Rogers so that she and Tetris could continue their project and opportunity based on Mr. Ackerman’s book without compensating him,” the lawsuit reads.
In his complaint, Ackerman explained that for writers, the option to license their work in film and television is a major source of revenue. This is why he is taking the Tetris company’s actions not as a way to prevent unauthorized use of its intellectual property, but as an “economic attack” on his business. To illustrate the point, Ackerman included a very long list of “stark similarities” between his book and the movie in his lawsuit. Several items on the list explain how scenes in the movie reflected his version of events. However, those events were based on scenarios that happened in real life, so it remains to be seen if the court will agree with him. Ackerman is seeking actual, compensatory and punitive damages equal to 6 percent of the film’s $80 million production budget.
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