"Transformers" star Shia LaBeouf may have to face legal consequences after he acknowledged borrowing material from another artist's work without giving proper credit.
The 27-year-old actor made his short film, "Howard Cantour.Com," starring Jim Gaffigan, available on Vimeo Monday. The tide quickly turned once the viewer's realized LaBeouf's directorial debut - which examines the life of a tormented online film critic - was identical to a 2007 graphic novel by Daniel Clowes titled Justin M. Damiano, the Associated Press reported.
Labeouf reportedly stole Clowes' opening narration verbatim, along with several other lines of dialogue, CBS reported. The video was taken offline once the criticism began gathering speed.
Clowes' publisher, Fantographics' Eric Reynolds, told the AP the writer is "exploring his legal options. "
"LaBeouf changed the name of the main character, but he used the comic as a direct script and storyboard," Reynolds said. "Clowes has a real melodramatic voice that is very idiosyncratic and LaBeouf just used the dialogue word for word. There is no ambiguity. There is no way that anybody wrote this but Dan Clowes. It just defies any kind of logic or good sense. This was so blatant and inexcusable that it was as baffling as it was appalling."
Clowes' who's known for Ghost World told Buzzfeed he was "shocked" when he heard the news of LaBeouf's project.
"The first I ever heard of the film was this morning when someone sent me a link. I've never spoken to or met Mr. LaBeouf," Clowes said. "I've never even seen one of his films that I can recall - and I was shocked, to say the least, when I saw that he took the script and even many of the visuals from a very personal story I did six or seven years ago and passed it off as his own work. I actually can't imagine what was going through his mind."
LaBeouf owned up to his actions on Monday night on Twitter, shortly after the backlash.
"Copying isn't particularly creative work. Being inspired by someone else's idea to produce something new and different IS creative work," he posted on Twitter. "In my excitement and naiveté as an amateur filmmaker, I got lost in the creative process and neglected to follow proper accreditation."
On Wednesday, LaBeouf went on to talk about his actions and how embarrassed he feels.
"I was wrong, terribly wrong," he tweeted. "I owe it to future generations to explain why."
LaBeouf's short film began circulating in 2012 at festivals like Cannes Film Festival, but despite some acclaim, little was made of the film's plot.
