Netflix Accused of Plagiarism Over Film Burning Sands

The Netflix original Burning Sands is caught up in a lawsuit after a writer claims the film is based off a book that he wrote which has the same name.

According to the Hollywood reporter, Al Quarles Jr is suing both Netflix and Mandalay Entertainment Group for copyright infringement. He says he spent almost 20 years working on a two volume book called Burning sands before the streaming service created an original film based on his work without giving him any proper accreditation for it.

Quale had applied for and received copyright registration for his novel around the time volume one was published in 2014. He asserts that the novel was based on his own experiences with the Lamda Tau chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity in the late 1980s.

In the complaint that was filed on Monday in Pennsylvania federal court, Quale Lawyer Bryan Lentz said that "In addition to the identical title and setting, the Book and the Film contain elements that are virtually identical, including characters with the same names and plot-points crafted to convey identical meanings and representations."

There are number of similarities between the plots of the novel and the film, including one of the characters dying from a hazing ritual and the recital of an Edward Guest poem about perseverance.

Quale is requesting the court to prohibit Netflix and Mandalay from marketing, selling
licensing or developing any works derived from his book and he is seeking damages for any profits that may have been made.