Two writers are sueing HBO Ballers producers Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and series creator Stephen Levinson for copyright infringement. The writers, Everette Silas and Sherri Littleton, are alleging that the series is a rip off of their unfinished, yet copyrighted project, Off Season. The suit details how G.I. Joe 3 and Transformer 5 stars got their hands on the script as well as the similarities between the two projects.
The suit establishes that Everette Silas and Sherri Littleton own the copyright to Off Season, a project that they claim was stolen and rebranded as Ballers (via Deadline):
“PLAINTIFFS SILAS and LITTLETON are the owners and copyright proprietors of an original motion picture trailer (the ‘Trailer’), screenplay (the ‘Screenplay’), and treatment (the ‘Treatment’), all entitled, ‘Off Season’. Each of the Trailer, Screenplay, and the Treatment (collectively the ‘Materials’) are PLAINTIFFS’ original work and were both written and created by them. The Materials have all been submitted for copyright registration with the United States Copyright Office.”
The suit goes on to explain how the Off Season script made it’s way to HBO, claiming:
“In or around May 2007, PLAINTIFFS shared the Materials with Steve Mayer (hereinafter ‘MEYER’), who sat on the executive board of IMG Productions, a sports programming company. MEYER then shared the Materials with Chris Albrecht (hereinafter “ALBRECHT”), who was his fellow board member at IMG Productions at the time. Also, at the time MEYER shared the Materials with ALBRECHT, ALBRECHT was the acting Chief Executive Officer for Defendant HBO. Therefore, PLAINTIFFS are informed and believe, and thereon allege that HBO had direct access to the Materials since its CEO was given a copy of the Materials.”
The suit also goes on to explain how Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson might have gotten the script as well as detailing the similarities between Off Season and Ballers. You can read the suit here.
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