Brian D. Siff

In February, writer and director Christian Charles sued Jerry Seinfeld, alleging that the comedian stole his idea for “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.” He filed his complaint pro se, which means he represented himself, but now Brian D. Siff, an attorney with BigLaw firm Duane Morris, has taken over — and Seinfeld could be on the hook for serious beans over his hit show, which Netflix recently bought as part of a $100 million deal.

Lawsuits involving allegedly stolen ideas are not uncommon in Hollywood, often involving a breach of implied contract claim, but on the face of the amended complaint recently filed by Siff in federal court, Charles’ case for several claims including copyright infringement, appears especially strong in light of his long-term working relationship with Seinfeld.

Charles alleges he has worked with Seinfeld since 1994, starting with his direction of Seinfeld’s American Express advertisements. The complaint further states that he “created, proposed, and directed” Comedian, the 2002 documentary about Seinfeld’s return to stand-up comedy.…

In August [2011], according to the complaint, Charles began writing up a treatment with details including the description of close-up shots and camera positions, the concept of the conversation being entirely off-the-cuff with no pre-interview or audience and the use of the “hero vehicle,” a vintage car. Charles owns the copyright of this treatment.

Through the fall, the two allegedly spoke several times with Charles expanding upon “his vision, style, tone, and creative approach” as well as “the execution of the details of the [t]reatment.” In September and October, Charles says he developed the treatment into a script, for which he also owns the copyright…

Charles’ company was compensated for the pilot, but negotiations over further pay led to “outrage” from Seinfeld that Charles expected to “have more than ‘work-for-hire’ directing role,” with Seinfeld calling Charles "ungrateful" and his requests for additional payments “out of line.” Charles contends he never agreed to be “work-for-hire” on the project and that Seinfeld refused to speak about the issue again…

Charles is seeking monetary damages as well as an injunction to stop the show from being produced and distributed further…

In cases such as these, a plaintiff must show that the defendant had access to the work in question and that the allegedly infringing work was substantially similar to protected elements in the copyrighted work.

Here, Charles has gone to great lengths to demonstrate Seinfeld's access to his work. In addition to the established, ongoing relationship between Charles and Seinfeld, the sheer amount of detail included in the complaint regarding dates, places and the show's evolution suggests Charles has been keeping receipts, perhaps even literally, for years.

All of that plus an undeniable similarity between his concept and the current "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" could add up to a latte legal problems for Seinfeld — and possibly a hefty settlement to boot.

To read the full text of this article, please visit the Forbes website.