Federal judge rules in high-profile streaming case.
A federal judge in California has dismissed claims under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) brought against Netflix and the Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS) relating to the use of salmon farming footage in a recent documentary series.
The lawsuit, filed by videographer and activist, Corin Smith, alleged that 17 seconds of video clips and still images were used without proper attribution in the docuseries You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment, which is available on Netflix. The footage had originally been licensed to activist Don Staniford on a nonexclusive basis for use on YouTube.
Smith argued that OPS removed copyright management information and that the appearance of the Netflix “N” logo during playback pause amounted to false CMI under Section 1202 of the DMCA. US District Judge Andre Birotte Jr. rejected both arguments, ruling that the Netflix logo was not conveyed specifically in connection with the contested footage and did not constitute false CMI under the statute.
While the court found that OPS may have acted with scienter—knowledge of lacking proper licensing—the judge concluded that the claims under the DMCA were not supported by sufficient legal grounds. “As the Court finds further leave to amend would be futile, it declines to grant leave to amend,” Birotte wrote.
The separate copyright infringement claim brought by Smith, which does not seek statutory damages or attorney’s fees, remains active and was not targeted in this motion to dismiss.