Apple, The Tetris Company stole my work
It’s not a game for him.
Dan Ackerman, author of “The Tetris Effect: The Game That Hypnotized the World,” filed a lawsuit in New York Monday, claiming that tech giant Apple and Tetris Co. were the makers of the new game Taron Egerton’s film “Tetris” adapted his book without asking permission.
According to documents obtained from The PostAckerman, 49, has accused Apple and Tetris Co. of copyright infringement, unfair competition and illegal interference in his business dealings.
“Tetris” premiered on March 15 at the SXSW Film Festival. The main roles are played by Egerton, Nikita Efremov, Rick Yune, Ben Miles, Roger Allam and several others.
The film tells the story of how Henk Rogers (Egerton), a Dutch-American entrepreneur, managed to secure the rights to the game for the Nintendo Game Boy version in the 1980s – and the puzzle game became one of the most famous video games the world made all the time.
Ackerman states that in 2016 he sent a pre-release copy of his book to the Tetris Co., which refused to license the intellectual property and allegedly discouraged other producers from purchasing an option on the title.
The author then states that company CEOs Maya Rogers – and later screenwriter Noah Pink – began copying his work in 2017 and threatened to sue him if he tried to direct other films or TV Pursuing spinoffs through a very “strongly worded cease and desist letter.”
The post reached out to Apple and Tetris Co. for comment.
Kevin Landau, Ackerman’s attorney, said Reuters that the lawsuit ” seeks to right a wrong and bring respect and justice to the work, industry and personal responsibility of one who is entitled by law to such respect and recognition.”
“The ‘Tetris’ film is essentially similar in almost all material respects, including certain chapters and pages of said book that were simply carried over from the book into the film without plaintiff’s knowledge, permission or consent,” it said it in the complaint.
“After reviewing the entire book written by Mr. Ackerman, Ms. Rogers subsequently used Mr. Ackerman’s work for which defendant Pink developed a screenplay, taken the contents of the book and fraudulently converted it into a film project without the plaintiff’s knowledge was.” or consent, which implied the absence of any option or license rights,” the filing reads.
According to Ackerman’s attorney, he is targeting at least 6% of the film’s estimated $80 million production budget.
According to the lawsuit, Ackerman would also receive “statutory damages of up to $150,000 per copyright infringement,” as well as attorneys’ fees and costs.
The Tetris Co. said Variety “They don’t believe it has any value but are unwilling to comment further at this time.”
The film received generally positive reviews and premiered on Apple TV in late July.
The Tetris Effect: The Game That Mesmerized the World is available on Amazon.
