August 04 2010
Is SyFy's "Human Relations" really a "Drones" ripoff?
Amber Benson and Adam Busch stop by The Wrap to personally delve into the curious situation they find themselves in with their indie film "Drones" and the previously-mentioned SyFy pilot. And over at Airlock Alpha, the creator of Human Relations puts forward his side of the story.
This thread has been closed for new comments.
You need to log in to be able to post comments.
About membership.
Simon | August 04, 02:40 CET
I thoughtit should ...There, fixed it for you Simon ;).
The primary link doesn't add information to the mix and right now, more information is what's really needed IMO. In the other link the creator behind 'Human Relations' says he's been developing it for 2 years based on an idea that's (to him) 15 years old and shopped it to Sci-Fi around the time the 'Drones' trailer was airing. If that's true (and we've absolutely no reason to assume otherwise) then to me this is just a case of coincidence and should go no further.
If the synopses are genuinely similar (i.e. Amber's existed previous to this story breaking rather than having been reworded to demonstrate the similarities - which is still ambiguous from this new post) or if Sci-Fi got involved with 'Human Relations' because they wanted something similar to 'Drones' but didn't want to pay for it then that's Sci-Fi's fault, not the creator of the show (though it's presumably him that's suffering most). Whatever, there're too many 'if's there to come down on either side right now.
And that aside, though I really understand Amber, Adam and the 'Drones' writers being angry about this, I just think if you're going (even implicitly) to accuse someone of plagiarism then you should make a supreme effort to get all the facts first. And then maybe not make your opening accusation in a public forum (really hope for instance that they've made some effort to talk to Scott Prendergast before all this, even though the Airlock Alpha article suggests otherwise).
Saje | August 04, 03:03 CET
With that said, it's still an excellent story line. "My boss is an alien!" I believe there's room for both to make a play on the approach. Besides, it will be a win-win situation for us!
EDIT to add. Saje, that "I don't think so" statement wasn't towards you, it was to the post in general :)
[ edited by Madhatter on 2010-08-04 12:13 ]
Madhatter | August 04, 03:08 CET
baxter | August 04, 03:10 CET
If it's about 'art' then you can't say someone's ripped off your art unless you've seen the tv show or read the script because the art comes with the writing and directing part, not the actual concept.
digupherbones | August 04, 03:16 CET
No worries 'Hatter ;).
Saje | August 04, 03:18 CET
And digupherbones, if Syfy or someone chose to buy Drones with an eye to making it into a TV show, then yes, it is lost money. Because that won't happen now.
Lioness | August 04, 03:58 CET
I can see both camps trying to capitalize on the popularity of The Office by developing this idea. I don't think there has to be plagiarism involved. And when the story was first published here I thought it was in poor professional taste for Amber and Adam to go public with this accusation before doing a bit of calling around, first. I can understand their reaction, don't get me wrong, but to post the accusation so publicly without getting the facts first seems to hurt their case.
palehorse | August 04, 04:57 CET
The good news is, no press is bad press, and this has made me determined to see Drones. I don't suppose it's available on DVD or anything yet?
dispatch | August 04, 05:04 CET
Dana5140 | August 04, 05:38 CET
i.e.--"I work in an office. My boss/co-workers seem really weird. I think they have ulterior motives. The workers seem to be doing something other than their jobs..." etc...
Aliens have been invading Earth since Wells wrote "War of the Worlds" in 1898. I'm not seeing anything really new here. So I'm hoping there's more real...facts behind the allegation and the instigated kerfuffle than a short press release and a trailer premier. (I doubt that the development department and the the department responsible for airing the trailer are the same.) Somehow "We Googled and asked around" (my summary) isn't very convincing in proving the lack of other projects in development by other creators. I don't talk about my own projects on line. At least, not yet. ;)
Someone just published a novel whose plot and characters summarized could be almost word for word the novel that I am revising right now. I've never heard of the author or his story. I've been working on and off on my novel for two and a half years. And I know it's just a coincidence of the zeitgeist... (Heh. *waves to Zeitgeist*)
BreathesStory | August 04, 05:40 CET
Abso-frikkin'-lutely !
OK, not literally...
Oh.
Saje | August 04, 05:41 CET
By the way, my boss is a great guy and not an alien. At least, I think so...
Madhatter | August 04, 06:15 CET
patxshand | August 04, 07:20 CET
Linnea1928 | August 04, 07:45 CET
"I wonder if Amber wrote that synopsis of her movie -- based on the synopsis of my show -- just so that she could cry foul," Prendergast said. "Maybe she saw a similarity -- she drew a connection because apparently her trailer was on Syfy.com -- and perhaps she just made everything a little bit clearer with her word choice."
How is that all right?
Amber reacted passionately, because that's how she feels about her work. (And how, imo, any good artist should be in regards to their work.) Yes, she should have taken some time to "calm down" a bit before posting her thoughts in her blog - everyone's made that mistake at one time or another (or often), but that doesn't automatically make her the bad guy here. She had no way of knowing how long "Human Relations" has been in development. All she knew was that the trailer for the movie she & Adam made was shown on SyFy, and then all of a sudden here's a TV show seeming very much like their project.
What's that line? "I didn't jump. I took a tiny step and there conclusions were."
ShadowQuest | August 04, 08:28 CET
This does seem like an obvious idea, so on the creative side I'm sure it's just the classic "infinite monkeys" situation. Business side is more complex and not my field of expertise.
DaddyCatALSO | August 04, 08:56 CET
"I wonder if Amber wrote that synopsis of her movie -- based on the synopsis of my show -- just so that she could cry foul," Prendergast said. "Maybe she saw a similarity -- she drew a connection because apparently her trailer was on Syfy.com -- and perhaps she just made everything a little bit clearer with her word choice."
Err, firstly he said that AFTER she posted her initial blog entry (which implies that he's maybe a plagiarist - how is that alright ?) and secondly, how exactly is he calling her a liar (essentially or otherwise) when she hasn't actually said anywhere that that synopsis hasn't been reworded to more clearly highlight the similarities ? Maybe she did, at the moment we don't know (and neither does he, hence the 'maybe'). And presumably it doesn't need pointing out that it's apparently OK for Amber to say things out of "passion" but not for this Prendergast guy to do the same. Bit of a double standard surely ? Why not for now, without knowing the full story, try to be fair to both sides.
She had no way of knowing how long "Human Relations" has been in development. All she knew was that the trailer for the movie she & Adam made was shown on SyFy, and then all of a sudden here's a TV show seeming very much like their project.
Which is why (IMO) she should've waited before in any way implying a fellow writer is a plagiarist on a public forum. Not knowing the facts isn't an excuse for saying anything you feel like saying, neither is being passionate.
That said, ultimately, so what ? She spoke too soon, acted from her heart, made a mistake, categorical proof that she's a human being. Stop the press. As things currently stand this is a nothing story with inconclusive evidence either way that's in danger of becoming something unpleasant for all concerned.
Saje | August 04, 09:04 CET
Well 1/17/10: http://geekblips.dailyradar.com/story/drones-the-office-meets-day-the-earth-stood-still/
prettygoodkid | August 04, 09:59 CET
@theonetruebix | August 04, 10:10 CET
And in fairness to Amber she never once (that I know of) says "Here is our original synopsis". Whether it's implied to be is up to the individual reader.
ETA: In fact, following a link from the link prettygoodkid supplies, we have this press release which includes a synopsis. Which is pretty dissimilar to the one Amber uses for comparison. Still not conclusive but y'know ...
(that Scifiwire article may even be where "The Office meets The Day the Earth Stood Still" originated)
[ edited by Saje on 2010-08-04 19:53 ]
Saje | August 04, 10:47 CET
will.bueche | August 04, 11:11 CET
(and did he even contact Airlock Alpha or did they get in touch with him for a response ?)
Saje | August 04, 11:25 CET
After I saw that on Sunday I was hopeful the business could be sorted privately but sadly it has not.
moley75 | August 04, 12:41 CET
I have to disagree with a few points (and clarify a few others), however.
First, because we are journalists, we did reach out to Prendergast for comment, and he responded. We updated the initial story we wrote with part of his response, and then wrote an entirely second story to follow-up.
Secondly, how is it that Prendergast was wrong for responding to accusations? I'm sorry, but if someone accused you of theft publicly, would you then go and reach out to them behind the scenes and try to work it out? Or would you jump into the public arena right away and try to salvage your name?
I'm not a lawyer, but if Syfy decides to take a pass at "Human Relations" for ANY reason (which does happen, by the way), and Prendergast can make even the smallest connection between that pass and Amber Benson's statements, I hate to say this, but he might have a strong libel suit on his hands. Especially if he can prove that Amber Benson's remarks were false.
I just don't understand why Amber Benson is taking this route. We know for sure that she is aware of Prendergast's statements (I tweeted the story to her, and she even followed me a short time later). We reached out to her for a response, but she chose not to do it. Instead, she wrote a similar piece for "The Wrap," complaining she is a Hollywood nobody (a Hollywood nobody, by the way, who can get a column on The Wrap -- I felt that was a bit disingenuous).
It's not up to Prendergast to reach out quietly to Amber Benson and make some "joint statement," I'm sorry. There is such a thing called looking before you leaped, and in this case, Amber Benson definitely leaped before seeing how far down off the cliff she would go.
As far as I can tell, in the brief conversation I was allowed to have with Prendergast, he was telling the truth.
I can tell you that he handled accusations of plagiarism far better than I would. Far better. :)
[ edited by AlphaMichael on 2010-08-04 22:04 ]
AlphaMichael | August 04, 13:02 CET
That is exactly the same as one of my posts above apart from a few details and the words. Lawyerbots, attack !
;-)
...he did try and contact her (he sent three public tweets to her including this one)
That puts things in quite a different light. Can't tell when the The Wrap piece went up (pet peeve #2864: articles online with no time and date) but it surely has to be after 9:20 pm on Saturday night right ? Seems like he made an attempt to sort it out in a sane, adult manner but apparently to no avail (OR they got in touch and didn't see eye to eye).
Sad to say, the more that comes out about this the harder it is to defend (or even understand) Amber's position. Ah well.
I'm sorry, but if someone accused you of theft publicly, would you then go and reach out to them behind the scenes and try to work it out? Or would you jump into the public arena right away and try to salvage your name?
No-one accused anyone of theft - implications and musings don't amount to an accusation, let's not go overboard in the other direction (and certainly legally i'd say both her posts are fairly defensible since she says, roughly, "I don't know any wrong-doing has occurred" in both. IANAL either though ;). And yeah I really do think going behind the scenes to try to work it out in private then issuing a joint statement with apologies etc. from the appropriate side and positive publicity for all concerned is preferable to getting involved in some protracted, public, possibly litigious online feud with implications and/or accusations flying back and forth. It's not only the ideal solution IMO, it's also apparently what he actually tried to do so good for him (i'm not at all sure I would've had the character to do the same).
Saje | August 04, 14:00 CET
"We've never seen the Human Relations script and they've only released three lines about the show, all of which mirror lines from the synopsis of DRONES at Sci-Fi Wire or from the trailer of DRONES, itself."
Here's the synopsis of 'Drones' at Scifiwire (full link again, as above):
Brian Dilks is an Office Drone. He spends his days at OmniLink in comforting monotony: facilitating the movement of product around the country, faxing, copying, joking with his best friend, Clark, and harmlessly flirting with fellow cubicle-mate, Amy.
But how well does anyone really know the people they work with?
When Brian discovers an improbable secret about his best friend, everything in Brian's world changes and his safe life of workplace detachment is no longer an option.
Shocked out of his mind-numbing routine by this new discovery, Brian throws himself into a star-crossed romance with Amy--yet close encounters of the office kind, like sales or intergalactic war, is an uncertain business.
Here're the three lines about 'Human Relations' (from the previous announcement):
The Office meets Men in Black in this project featuring an office Temp who slowly discovers that his off-kilter and odd-ball bosses at the strange hi-tech “ad agency” where he works are really aliens working on a plan to destroy the Earth.
Which lines are mirrored in the Scifiwire 'Drones' synopsis ?
"Scott says, "My show has been in development since August of 2008..."
Which is kind of odd, seeing as the DRONES script was written in May of 2008 – two months before Scott started writing his script for Human Relations."
See those ellipses ? They partly stand in for:
"In fact, my show is based on a script I wrote in 1995, based on a job I had in Chicago in 1995-96."
Kind of puts the first part (and Amber's response) in a different light no ? You might say it's a "strange coincidence" that of an entire quoted paragraph she happened to NOT quote the one part that contradicts her thesis. Not really on.
I can just ask you to look at the two synopses - mine was culled from our treatment, a few lines come directly from the movie ... from reviews (right here you can check out: Brian, the regular office worker, who discovers the people he works with are aliens...) and from SyFy directly (they coined the phrase "The Office" meets "The Day The Earth Stood Still", not me) and you make the call. Scott accused us of making up what was in our synopsis. That is inaccurate, it's all their online for you to go and see. Just follow the links. They've all be online since January 2010.
He actually said:
"I wonder if Amber wrote that synopsis of her movie -- based on the synopsis of my show -- just so that she could cry foul," Prendergast said. "Maybe she saw a similarity -- she drew a connection because apparently her trailer was on Syfy.com -- and perhaps she just made everything a little bit clearer with her word choice."
And given that short synopsis is crafted (presumably by Amber) from parts of a Scifiwire article, a treatment that doesn't seem to be online, the film's dialogue, the gist of a review (not word for word quotes in any instance that I can see) then surely what Prendergast is saying is actually pretty much exactly what happened i.e. she took parts from several sources and in some cases reworded or re-ordered them based on the 'Human Relations' synopsis to better make her case ? The only part that I can find online word for word from any links dating to January 2010 ("The Office meets The Day the Earth Stood Still") turns out, by her own admission, not to have been written by anyone involved with the production of 'Drones'.
This whole thing is starting to leave a bad taste.
[ edited by Saje on 2010-08-05 00:13 ]
Saje | August 04, 15:07 CET
baxter | August 04, 15:39 CET
sumogrip | August 04, 15:40 CET
hacksaway | August 04, 15:58 CET
Dana5140 | August 05, 03:17 CET
click here
AlphaMichael | August 05, 05:52 CET
ETA Just read it and re-"Ow" with a "!" added. I mean, I'm in her cheering squad but . . . .
I *am* reminded of the fuss George Lucas (and some of the critics aligned with him) put up when the original Battlesatr Galactica aired; don't recall if that led to a suit or not. I mean, he was right in one sense, Star Wars had increased the saleability of sci-fi greatly and the show probably wouldn't've sold before that. And there were soem simialrites in the mystic angle and soem superficial resemblances in the bad guys and tech.
But the plots were nothing alike and the backstories bore little resemblance one to another. My comments at the time were "Does Lucas think he copyrighted the word 'galaxy'?"
[ edited by DaddyCatALSO on 2010-08-05 15:29 ]
DaddyCatALSO | August 05, 06:26 CET
No, at this point I don't think it is. Her second blog post implies various things about what Prendergast personally claims re: dates etc. - if that's not directed at him then what is ? By her account he's at best the unwitting dupe of Sci-Fi (who presumably "tweaked" the script so that it went from not being set in an office and not featuring alien co-workers or the impending destruction of the Earth to doing so since those are the guts of both synopses). And i'm not at all surprised he's stopped commenting on it (it's indicative of either character or legal advice. Or possibly both).
Too little too late and it shouldn't even be necessary in the first place since this should've been handled differently from the start IMO. It's been like watching a train-wreck - her initial post is relatively harmless but could be read as implying plagiarism, his response escalates the situation (although it's starting to seem likely that he didn't actually make any claims that aren't true), then her response to that escalates etc. Textbook internet basically, the only difference being Prendergast seems to have at least tried to get in touch on Saturday night to straighten things out before it all blew up, either after the first Airlock Alpha article (maybe because he regretted his accusatory stance) or just before it, after Amber's initial blog post.
Silly humans.
Saje | August 05, 07:16 CET
Yep, sounds like he lawyered up. She should do the same. Probably should have done so earlier, then they may have told her to stop writing ill-advised blogs.
hacksaway | August 05, 08:15 CET
I hate to think she's maybe-perhaps finally going to get mentioned in People and the tabloids for this after years of being under the radar. Sorry, logically I always knew my goddess, like any human being, had feet of clay, but I hate seeing them being broken into miry shards in public.
ETA: So very not my place but I posted to her blog suggesting she "pull it way back."
[ edited by DaddyCatALSO on 2010-08-05 20:39 ]
DaddyCatALSO | August 05, 08:59 CET