'New Girl' Plagiarized?
Is it possible that popular Fox sitcom "New Girl" could be a work of plagiarism? According to two writers, Stephanie Counts and Shari Gold, the show is plagiarized from a pilot script they wrote for a show they titled "Square One". The two writers are suing the Fox network.
The lawsuit was obtained by The Hollywood Reporter explains why the two writers are suing Fox.
"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."
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The lawsuit goes on to detail the similarities between the shows.
"Both protagonists are awkward, quirky women around the age of 30," and "in each work there is a cynical roommate who is a bartender," the lawsuit reads.
The two writers claim that even characters names are the same on "Square One" and "New Girl."
"The best friend in each work is named 'CeCe' or has the initials 'C.C.' and the "roommates in each work act out their idiosyncrasies in identical ways," the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit also makes reference to Fox allegedly offering the writers a settlement.
"The Fox Defendants' attorneys make a settlement offer to Stephanie and Shari of approximately $10,000 in an attempt to silence and prevent them from seeking formal legal action against the Fox Defendants, the Chernin defendants, defendant WME, defendant Meriwether, and defendant Meriwether Pictures," the lawsuit said.
