NETFLIX SUED FOR $105M OVER STOLEN NICOLAS CAGE FILM

Netflix faces a $105m lawsuit over the theft of a hard drive containing an unreleased Nicolas Cage war film titled Fortitude. The hard drive was stolen from Netflix's Los Angeles office and contained an unencrypted master copy of the second world war spy thriller, which had a budget of $45m. Filmmakers Simon Afram and his company Op-Fortitude filed the lawsuit after the theft compromised their investment and distribution plans. Netflix acknowledged the theft occurred but disputed responsibility, stating the film was delivered "without the proper industry-standard safeguards".

Netflix received a digital copy of Fortitude in June after expressing interest in promotional materials the previous December. The film's producers instructed Netflix to delete the files after internal screening, but the copy was not removed before the theft. Sean Berney, head of Netflix film acquisitions, wrote in an email that the theft was unprecedented for the company and that security and piracy teams were mobilised to monitor for unauthorised distribution. Netflix stated it has conducted a thorough investigation and offered to monitor piracy sites for any illegal release of the film.

The lawsuit claims Netflix failed to disclose whether a police report was filed initially and later declined the filmmakers' request to involve the Los Angeles Police Department. The plaintiffs argue the breach has jeopardised their $45m investment and paused international release strategy and awards campaigns for the film. Netflix said it takes content security seriously and has taken additional measures to support the filmmakers.