Ex-Fugitives Sue 'Prison Break' over 'Copycat' Allegations
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WENN.com
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Wednesday, October 25, 2006
HOLLYWOOD - Two former fugitives are suing 20th Century Fox, alleging the hit TV show Prison Break is based on the story of their life.
Missouri brothers Donald and Robert Hughes filed a copyright infringement suit in Jefferson City District Court in Missouri last week, seeking damages and other costs from the production company and the prison drama's executive producer/creator, Paul Scheuring.
They claim their agent sent a manuscript based on their experiences in jail and their subsequent escape from prison to Fox in 2001, but the idea was rejected.
The brothers claim they were stunned when the Fox network began broadcasting Prison Break, starring Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell as jailbird siblings, last fall.
In the 1960s, 16-year-old Robert was wrongfully incarcerated when his mentally ill mother told police her son had threatened her with an ice pick. She later denied the incident had ever occurred, but the teen remained in prison until he was 21.
His younger brother Donald, then 20, entered prison and the pair escaped two months later. They spent four years on the run until they were finally exonerated in 1968.
Robert, 59, says, "If we sold the manuscript at this point to a movie studio or network, they'd think we were copying Prison Break."
The Hugheses claim they've noted over 30 places, names or events in the prison drama which reflect their real-life story.
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