Copyright lawsuit filed against The Shape Of Water makers

Still from The Shape of Water

The family of a Pulitzer-winning playwright has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against director Guillermo del Toro and Fox Searchlight alleging that the Oscar-nominated film, The Shape of Water, is a copy of a 1969 play. David Zindel, son of American playwright Paul Zindel, filed the complaint on Wednesday alleging that Del Toro's critically-acclaimed film has exploited the play, Let Me Hear You Whisper, and should have credited and licensed his father's work.

The allegations, which Del Toro and the studio have denied, were first reported in January. The copyright complaint was filed in California this week, and marks the first legal action the Zindel family has taken against The Shape of Water. The film is leading the 90th Academy Awards' nomination pack with nods in a maximum of 13 categories.

The Shape of Water, co-written by Del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, tells a love story between a mute woman who works as a cleaning lady in a government laboratory in 1962 Baltimore and a misunderstood aquatic monster. Let Me Hear You Whisper, which aired as a TV production nearly 50 years ago, is also about a female janitor in a laboratory who bonds with a sea creature whom she attempts to save.

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