Have you thought about the fact that Doritos heard you and probably looked into the matter and found concrete evidence that you don’t have a case against the other video? It seems to me that a company as big as Doritos, who has been doing this competition for a couple years now, probably has lawyers on retainer that check these things before they solidify their top six. Besides the fact that the two commercials are NOT the same (sure there are similar elements, but the stories are completely different), I’m sure Doritos got the information they needed to know that your video wasn’t plagirized. I am sad for you that you’ve felt so distraught over this whole thing, but I think you are making a lot of assumptions and spending a lot of time on an imagined hurt.

An “idea” cannot be copyright. But a script is and so is a storyboard and so is a rough cut and so is video contest entry. Under US law, whoever creates a work, owns the copyright.

Even if someone doesn’t believe that the “Casket” could include plagiarized elements of my entry or my storyboard, any reasonable person would be willing to admit that both ads share an astonishing number of similarities. I have never said that I think Casket is a carbon copy of “Rest in Chips.” My theory is that the writer saw my storyboard and then adapted the idea to fit the location they had access to. That means that certain changes had to be made. (for instance, there is no grave for the casket to fall into in a church. The only was down is down the stairs)

So of course, some changes had to be made (assuming I even was plagiarized and I am the first to admit I have hard proof yet that it was) to fit the logistics of the location. What matters in copyright law is whether or not there is are “substantial similarities” in both ads. Because “Casket” is so much like my idea, my idea is now rendered value-less because of Doritos’ decision. If I were to pitch “Rest in Chips” to a company like Jay’s and replace the Doritos with potato chips, Jays would reject it because the idea would be too similar to an ad that has been seen by the public.

I created the concept/commercial/pitch first and Doritos and their lawyers knew that weeks ago. So by purchasing and promoting “Casket,” Doritos knew they would be rendering my intellectual property worthless. So plagiarism is fast becoming a secondary issue. My immediate goal is to find out why Doritos ignored my copyrights.

What exactly would you copyright here…the “idea” that a guy falls out of a coffin of doritos? Good luck.

Is the dialogue in your scripts that similar? Seems I remember something about an heir in yours…it’s been awhile since I’ve seen it.

Press on…is my advice. You really don’t have a leg to stand on.

People will think I’m crazy but it’s hard to put a pricetag on being right. No BS, if the idea was plagiarized and I got an apology and an admission (no need for it to be public) ASAP I would be one happy guy. One thing I would want is a “story by” or “co-written by” credit. But I think that is very, very, very unlikely. I have not heard from anyone associated with “Casket” but a friend or two of theirs have e-mailed to call me names. So they obviously know my positions but they have decided not to contact me. It’s also possible that they are totally innocent and they think I’m just some jerk who wants to wreck their success. I have a feeling this might have to be handled “the hard way” if you know what i mean.

Now I remember Speak Doritos. That’s a funny concept and you for sure should recycle it for another contest.

Just curious. What would satisfy you? Money? If so how much? Admission of guilt by the spots creators? a public apology? If Doritos bought your ad too?? What would make it o.k.?

-David

u can email me if you don’t want to say that on here. and maybe you shouldn’t.