I Shot The Sheriff, the lead-off episode of Netflix’s documentary series “ReMastered,” which focuses on the 1976 attempted assassination of legendary Reggae superstar Bob Marley is the subject of a lawsuit in the United States.
According to court documents filed in the Superior Court of California on October 11, TJ Barrack and Marc Joubert of the Los Angeles-based Adaptive Studios are suing the executive producers of the Netflix series Jeff and Michael Zimbalist for allegedly stealing their idea.
They claim that back in 2011 they pitched the documentary as an hour-long series which would be produced and directed by a rotating list of industry personnel including the Zimbalists.
Both Barrack and Joubert contend that the two men blatantly ripped off their creative ideas and concept after being approached for input and to direct just one episode.
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“The episode, entitled I Shot the Sheriff, was described by plaintiffs as exploring ‘the controversies and conspiracy theories behind the separate and unrelated shootings in Jamaica of two of the world’s most famous reggae stars, Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. The Zimbalists, who had never before heard the theory that Bob Marley’s shooting may have been an attempted political assassination orchestrated by the CIA, were intrigued by the novel subject matter and eager to direct the episode. The Zimbalists further understood that they were merely being pitched as potential directors, not owners and were not authorised to used the Remastered concept and ideas without plaintiff’s permission and without compensation to Plaintiffs,” the court documents state.
Barrack and Joubert claim that the men have presented the concept as their own and are illegally profiting from it, as such they are taking actions to recover monetary damages.
I Shot The Sheriff premiered on Netflix on October 12 and is part of a monthly 8 episode series which will cover high-profile events surrounding several popular artistes including Johnny Cash, Jam Master Jay, Sam Cooke, and Robert Johnson.
