In a twist so meta it would be worthy of an Abed Nadir documentary, the producers of a BBC America series about clones are now being accused of “cloning” the show’s premise.
Writer Stephen Hendricks is suing the BBC and Temple Street Productions over their show Orphan Black, which centers aroung a young woman discovering that she is one of a multitude of clones. Hendricks is claiming that the show’s premise is nearly identical to that of a script he submitted to Temple Street co-president David Fortier in 2004 titled Double Double. At the time, Fortier and Temple Street passed on Hendricks’ script. Hendricks took notice when Orphan Black premiered in 2013 with a story remarkably similar to his, but with Graeme Manson and John Fawcett credited as the show’s creators.
In his complaint, Hendricks states that “the similarities between the Series and the Screenplay are so substantial that it is a virtual statistical impossibility that the former could have been created independantly of the latter.” The suit goes on to cite the similarities between the series and Hendricks’ screenplay, with both centering around an attractive woman in her early 20s trying to understand where she comes from, where “the protagonist’s birth certificate is a key clue that makes her suspicious of her origin”, amongst others. Mr. Hendricks claims that his script has been registered with the Writer’s Guild of America as well as with the Copyright office. He’s seeking $5 million in damages for the alleged copyright infringement, as well as a breach of implied contract to pay and credit him for his contributions. Hendricks’ claim might be bolstered by the proclivity of the BBC to repackage older products with new faces.