Netflix’s ‘Rez Ball’ Sparks Idea Theft Lawsuit From Producer

THR, Esq

Rob Grabow accuses producers of the sports movie of lifting elements from his script.

(L to R) Kauchani Bratt as Jimmy and Kusem Goodwind as Nataanii in ‘Rez Ball.’

Lewis Jacobs/Netflix

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Netflix has been sued for copyright infringement by a producer, who alleges that his script for a project he’s producing was ripped off to make Rez Ball.

Rob Grabow, in a lawsuit filed on Thursday in California federal court, says the movie copied elements of his script for The Gift of the Game. Like Rez Ball, it follows a high school basketball team on a Native American reservation with state championship aspirations while exploring issues of community, race relations and poverty.

In 2024, Grabow says he reached out to Brit Hensel, who worked in the camera department on Reservation Dogs, to introduce himself and gauge her interest in directing his screenplay. She was sent a copy of his copyrighted script, along with a nondisclosure agreement.

“After reading the script, Hensel told Grabow that she saw a great deal of potential in the story, but that additional work on the script would be necessary,” states the complaint. “She expressed her willingness to provide feedback on the script if Grabow was open to it.”

In later discussions, Hensel allegedly fished for information regarding investors, talent and the status of production. She ultimately passed on attaching herself to the project. Grabow alleges that she shared information about his film with Sterlin Harjo, who directed Reservation Dogs and wrote the screenplay for Rez Ball.

The lawsuit claims “striking similarities” in the works, both of which follow a male Native American high school student who’s the star player on his high school basketball team and end with him making a free throw to win the state championship game. This character’s mother, in the two screenplays, also refuses to attend any of his basketball games because she’s afraid to see her son fail in the pursuit of his dreams.

The complaint states: “In both the Infringing Work and the Original Work, the protagonist has a parent who was a star high school basketball player in the area where the film takes place; that parent set a state high school scoring record, received a Division I basketball scholarship but ultimately did not make it off the reservation to pursue college basketball.”

Grabow, who directed The Year of the Dog, also cites a scene in which some players on the team don’t hold their hands over their hearts when the national anthem is played.

“This scene was discussed extensively between Grabow and Hensel,” writes Devin McRae, a lawyer for the producer. “Grabow specifically shared his idea that some of the players would not be holding their hands over their hearts, explaining to Hensel that he arrived at this idea based on one of his friends who is Lakota Native American and disclosed to Grabow that he does not hold his hand over his heart during the national anthem.”

Other allegedly overlapping elements of the works include identical montages following the progress of the tournament, a former professional player-turned coach and the protagonist’s love interest, who’s indifferent about basketball.

The complaint stresses that Rez Ball is “far more similar” to Grabow’s screenplay than it is to the book Canyon Dreams: A Basketball Season on the Navajo Nation, which it’s based on.

While the similarities are up for debate, there’s been a push by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in recent years to curb the early dismissal of copyright infringement claims. In 2022, the federal appeals court reversed the dismissal of a lawsuit over M. Night Shyamalan allegedly ripping off a 2013 independent movie for his Apple TV+ series Servant. This followed the revival of a copyright lawsuit brought by writers Arthur Lee Alfred and Ezequiel Martinez Jr. alleging that Disney lifted their ideas for the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, as well as an identical decision bringing back to life a copyright case of The Shape of Water. The court found in those two cases that they were prematurely dismissed since reasonable minds could differ on whether the works are substantially similar.

Netflix didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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