Apple faces lawsuit over 'Tetris' movie by Gizmodo editor

SAN FRANCISCO: Daniel Ackerman, editor-in-chief of tech news site Gizmodo, has sued Apple and other parties over the 2023 Apple TV+ film 'Tetris', claiming that the movie unlawfully lifted content from his book about the classic video game.

Ackerman's book 'The Tetris Effect: The Game That Mesmerized the World', published in 2016, delves into the hit game's origins in the former Soviet Union and the battle for global licencing rights, reports The Wrap.

"Ackerman's book took a unique approach to writing about the real history of Tetris, as it not only applied the historical record but also layered his own original research and ingenuity to create a compelling narrative non-fiction book in the style of a Cold War spy thriller," according to the lawsuit.

"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 players," it added.

Moreover, the report mentioned that the lawsuit demanded at least $4.8 million in damages from Apple and the other parties involved, or 6 per cent of the film's estimated $80,000,000 production budget.

It also alleged copyright infringement, unfair competition and tortious interference with business relations.

Further, the editor-in-chief claimed that Apple, the Tetris Company, the Tetris rights holder, as well as the producers and screenwriter Noah Pink, recreated "the exact same feel, tone, approach, and scenes as the book introduced several years prior".

In the lawsuit, he also claimed that "the Tetris film is substantially similar in almost all material respects, including specific chapters and pages of said book that were simply adopted from the book to the film, without Plaintiff's knowledge, authorisation, or consent".

Tetris premiered on Apple TV in March. The film starred British actor Taron Egerton as Henk Rogers and Russian actor Nikita Efremov as the game’s inventor -- Alexey Pajitnov.