Poor Heroes. First NBC cancels the series (Although creator Tim Kring said yesterday that he’s “finalizing [a] discussion about a number of ways to keep the ‘Heroes’ universe alive for its fans,” whatever that may mean) and then it gets slapped with a $60 million lawsuit alleging that its final season ripped off a little-known independent comic book.
The lawsuit has been filed by comic creator Jazan Wild (or, if you’d prefer to use his real name, Jason Barnes), who claims that the NBC superhero soap’s fourth season contained elements that were “virtually identical” to his 2005 series Jazan Wild’s Carnival of Souls. Admittedly, the idea of a mysterious and spooky carnival filled with people with magical abilities and unpleasant motives may not be entirely original to Wild, but the complaint’s point-by-point comparison, which includes images from both Carnival and Heroes and is now online at Comic Book Resources’ Robot 6 blog, does seem slightly more convincing.
Wild is suing NBC Universal, NBC Studios and Tim Kring’s Tailwind Productions for $60 million in compensatory and punitive damages for copyright infringement, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, unfair competition and unjust enrichment, as well as seeking to prevent the already-completed fourth season from ever being re-broadcast.
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