Writer Claims Apple TV+’s ‘Tetris’ Film Adaptation Plagiarized His Book

A lawsuit has been filed against Apple TV+ and the Tetris Company, claiming that their film Tetris was plagiarized from a book written several years ago. Dan Ackerman, the editor-in-chief of Gizmodo, alleges that his book The Tetris Effect, which presents the game’s history as a Cold War-era thriller, was copied by the defendants. Ackerman claims that he had sent a pre-publication copy of his book to the Tetris Company and its CEO Maya Rogers in 2016. Later that year, he received a “strongly worded Cease and Desist letter” from them, prohibiting him from pursuing film and TV opportunities.

Ackerman accused Rogers of working with screenwriter Noah Pink to develop a script for his book without content taken from him without his knowledge or consent. Apparently, several producers expressed interest in adapting his book, but the Tetris Company refused to license their IP rights for the project. “This was done at the direction and behest of Ms. Rogers so that she and the Tetris Company could pursue their own project and opportunities based on Mr. Ackerman’s book without compensating her,” the lawsuit says.

In his complaint, Ackerman explained that the opportunity for writers to license their work for film and television is typically a significant source of income. Therefore, he does not consider Tetris Company’s actions to prevent unauthorized use of its IP addresses, but a “financial attack” on his business. To drive home the point, Ackerman included in his lawsuit a rather lengthy list of “glaring similarities” between his book and the film. Several items on the list explain how scenes in the film reflected his versions of events. However, these events were based on real-life scenarios, 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.