Netflix no comment over Lunatics likeness
Tall stories in a world of copyright, but Netflix declines to comment.
- Published by David Knox
- on
Netflix representatives declined to comment on suggestions Chris Lilley’s Lunatics includes scenes which bear similarities to a YouTube character created in 2012.
As news.com.au reported viewers have taken to social media to point out the likeness between Lilley’s character Becky Douglas, a seven foot three (222cm) teenage girl and Sheridan Belvedere, an eight foot seven (265cm) teenage girl featured in a series of “World’s Tallest Girl” skits on YouTube.
“I’ve been considering legal advice or legal action,” creator Hamish Williams said.
In 2007 after the success of Summer Heights High there were stories about parallels between Mr. G. and a character in 2000’s sitcom Sit Down Shut Up (Mr. G first appeared in 2003’s The Big Bite). Nothing eventuated over any perceived likeness…
In intellectual property such as characters and storylines, you can’t copyright an idea, only its execution.
Other shows that have attracted similar speculation include My Kitchen Rules / The Hot Plate, My Kitchen Rules / MasterChef, Twenty Twelve / The Games, Gruen / The Mad Bad Ad Show. None has ever led to a court case or ruling.
Producers Princess Pictures also referred all queries to Netflix representatives when approached by TV Tonight.
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- Tagged with Lunatics, Sit Down Shut Up, Summer Heights High, The Big Bite
5 Responses
Wow. That’s pretty embarrassing. I could cope with them both being tall, but doing the voice as well. Pretty embarrassing.
Sounds like a case of sour grapes because Lilley is making coin from his work.
Oh please. Neither of those characters warrants a lawsuit.
If there were a lawsuit, I don’t believe they’d be able to stand up to Netflix.
I remember some talk of Kath & Kim “borrowing” some ideas from The Top Twins, in particular the jockey character in the Melbourne Cup episode. It’s almost inevitable that character comedians will pick up ideas from others in their field. As long as it’s not outright plagiarism, I don’t see a problem.