Author of Tetris book sues Apple and the Tetris Company for allegedly ripping off his work to make the Tetris movie
Author and journalist Dan Ackerman has filed suit against Apple, the Tetris Company, production companies and various individuals involved in the Apple-funded movie Tetris, claiming that the film adapts his book, The Tetris Effect: The Game That Hypnotized the World, without permission. Ackerman is seeking millions in damages from the makers of the film.
Tetris (the film) details how Alexey Pajitnov created Tetris (the game) and the role of Henk Rogers in acquiring the rights for the game on Nintendo's behalf (Tetris was the pack-in title for the Nintendo Game Boy). The struggle over the rights was far from simple thanks to the Soviet authorities, and various other figures who wanted in on the action.
The suit was filed in New York federal court on Monday (thanks, Business Insider), and relies on specific elements of the book which, Ackerman's lawyers claim, have been lifted wholesale for the movie. These alleged similarities in structure and theming are the crux of the matter, because of course the story behind Tetris' development and the battle over rights for it have been told various times by the key players (as well as in other books and documentaries).
Ackerman's lawyers claim that The Tetris Effect uniquely contextualised the story as a «Cold War thriller with a political intrigue angle» featuring «heroic protagonist» Henk Rogers. Perhaps more persuasively, the suit then details 22 examples of scenes from the film that are very similar to parts of Ackerman's book.
«Mr Ackerman's literary masterpiece, unlike other articles and writings, dispelled of the emphasis on the actual gameplay and fans, and instead concentrated on the surrounding narrative, action sequences, and adversarial relationship between the
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