Netflix Is Being Sued For Illegally Streaming This Classic Film

As unbelievably ironic as it sounds, Netflix have apparently been caught streaming a feature film without having attained the proper rights.

Corinth Films, the copyright holders for the classic 1948 film ‘Bicycle Thieves’, claim that one of the versions available to Netflix subscribers isn’t in the streaming service’s possession and are subsequently suing them for copyright infringement.

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The problem stems from different language versions having different copyright agreements. Corinth accept that in its original form - that’s Italian language - it is in the public domain, after two squabbling parties were unable to agree on who owned it after copyright renewal wasn’t filed.

However, the dubbed or subtitled version is still deemed to be under the company’s copyright, which puts Netflix in a precarious position.

Corinth say copyright notices were in fact placed on the subtitled version and has been registered and all appropriate steps taken. Clearly this will be challenged by the Netflix lawyers, but it’s still a headache for them.

The worst scenario for Netflix is that it’ll be sued for copyright infringement and have to pay out for illegal streaming and distribution, which won’t look too good from a PR angle.

Netflix is worth a whopping $32.9 billion with around 70 million subscribers and continues to grow in popularity each year. Suffice to say the hugely successful online streaming service will have a competent team of lawyers ready to fight off this unwanted attention.

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Picture credit: Netflix, Produzioni De Sica