A photographer claims the production company behind the Apple TV+ series Amazing Stories committed “flagrant copyright infringement” by re-creating an image of his for the show’s intro.
Adrian Murray, of Louisville, Kentucky, alleges an image of two boys opening a glowing chest at about the 45-second mark of the intro is derivative of a work he created with his two sons in 2018.
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“Instead of creating something of their own, they derived this part of their work from mine to cut corners,” Murray said in a blog post on his website. “They did this without my permission. Without credit. Without licensing my copyright, which I was granted at the moment of creation.”
Cult of Mac asked Apple for comment on Murray’s claim. This story will be updated when we receive a response.
Amazing Stories: Amazing similarities
Murray is a father of four who creates ethereal photos with the help of his family. His Instagram feed of this work boasts more than 193,000 followers. His images often wind up posted on Pinterest mood boards or in the occasional internet meme.
Companies like Nest, Philips Hue, Pixar and Dole have paid to license Murray’s photos for their brand, he told Cult of Mac
A common refrain among photographers is “there are no new ideas.” Artists are known, and even taught, to glean inspiration from other creatives. Author Austin Kleon wrote a book entitled Steal Like an Artist, a how-to guide for generating ideas.
Murray acknowledges that fuzzy line between inspiration and replication. However, the Amazing Stories intro contains too many similarities to “reside within the fuzz,” he said.
In the video below, Murray blends the two images to show the similarities in body positions. The rooms are different, but the Amazing Stories image and Murray’s 2018 image both have teddy bears in the background.
“I take inspiration from other sources,” Murray told Cult of Mac. “In my work, some brands present with a mood board as part of their creative direction. I think taking an idea like a glowing suitcase would have been fine. I was able to reverse-engineer my two-year-old image to practically match their own.”
Murray said he sent direct messages to the show creators and contacted a copyright attorney.
Below is the opening to Amazing Stories.
Source: PetaPixel
