Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Netflix series FUBAR has been accused of plagiarism, according to legal letters obtained by DailyMail.com.
A major plot point in the action series revolves around a grocery store app created by the son of Schwarzenegger’s character. However, an entrepreneur claims the show’s writers stole the idea for the app from him and is seeking $1.5 million in damages.
Entrepreneur and former rock star Aharon Jason Curtis claims he came up with the idea for “Aisle” in 2015, an app that tracks the location of products in supermarkets, maps a route through the store, reminds users of forgotten items and allows them to scan barcodes.
Curtis, 54, says he told only two people: his then-manager, who “now works as a writer specializing in scripts for action films and streaming series,” according to a legal brief, and a friend “who now works as a writer at Netflix in Los Angeles.”
Curtis – who rose to brief fame as Aharon with his 2004 hit Dreamer – says he was “shocked” when he turned on the TV in September 2023 and saw his app idea in FUBAR.
Entrepreneur and former rock star Aharon Jason Curtis, 54, (pictured) claims writers of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s hit Netflix series FUBAR stole his app idea from him
In the series, Schwarzenegger’s character’s son develops a grocery app called “Maisle.” Curtis claims he came up with the idea for the app, called “Aisle,” in 2015. (Pictured: Schwarzenegger at the FUBAR premiere in May 2023)
“In FUBAR, Oscar, the son of Schwarzenegger’s character, played by Devon Bostick, develops an app that is clearly a direct copy of the Aisle app that Curtis developed,” reads an April 3 letter from Curtis’ attorney Edward Johnson to Netflix, Skydance Television and Blackjack Films.
‘The app in FUBAR is designed to optimize the grocery shopping experience in the same way as Aisle: in any supermarket, ‘it tells you which aisle the item you’re looking for is in.’
‘The app in FUBAR even has a nearly identical name: ‘Maisle’, which is explained as a combination of ‘my’ and ‘Aisle’.
‘Aisle appears in at least four episodes (half of the series) and is mentioned no less than seven times.’
Neither Skydance nor Netflix responded to DailyMail.com’s requests for comment.
The lawyer’s letter accuses the production companies of “copyright infringement,” “misuse of trade secrets” and “unjust enrichment.”
“When I first saw FUBAR I thought, ‘What is this? Wait a minute! That’s my idea, I wrote that! That’s my app!'” Curtis told DailyMail.com.
A legal brief filed on behalf of Curtis accuses the production companies of “copyright infringement,” “trade secret misuse” and “unjust enrichment”
On May 24, Skydance’s attorneys responded with their own letter rejecting the claims
‘I felt violated. Like someone had come into my house, someone I trusted, and stolen from me.’
“Mr. Curtis is willing to waive litigation and provide a full release for a payment of $1.5 million,” his attorney’s letter read. “If we do not hear from you, we intend to file an immediate lawsuit to defend Mr. Curtis’s rights.”
On May 24, Skydance’s attorneys responded with their own letter denying the claims.
Nicolas Jampol of law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP wrote that Curtis’ idea was “unprotected” because he had not actually built the app.
“While you claim that your client ‘conceived’ the app and wrote down some ideas for the app, he did not actually develop or create the app, or capture it in ‘a tangible medium of expression,’” Jampol wrote.
He added that “Skydance produced the series, not Netflix,” and that Curtis had failed to demonstrate a connection between his confidants and Skydance, which was required for a copyright claim.
Jampol argued that other apps with similar ideas already existed and that there were therefore no “trade secrets” involved in this case.
However, in an interview with DailyMail.com, Curtis’ attorney Johnson pointed out that Skydance’s lawyers failed to provide a “factual rebuttal” to his client’s claims.
Curtis says he is now preparing to file a lawsuit against Netflix, Skydance and others.
“I want to be paid fairly and recognized for my work,” he said.