LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Netflix has won dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a family that maintained an image likely taken of their unique and isolated Hollywood Hills home for a 2022 ad promoting the series "Buying Beverly Hills" left them worried about their safety and caused harassment by sightseers and real estate agents.
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Aharon Dihno, 61, his twin 5-year-old sons and Dihno's partner were the plaintiffs in the Los Angeles Superior Court suit, alleging intrusion upon seclusion, violation of the state's false advertising and privacy laws and both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
But on Wednesday, Judge Barbara Scheper, Netflix dismissed all of the plaintiffs' claims.
"Here, plaintiffs have failed to allege that they suffered an economic injury as a result of Netflix's alleged conduct," according to the judge, who also wrote that the plaintiffs offered no law present no authority in support of their contentions that Netflix owed them a duty to investigate the photograph or to not publish the promotional images at issue.
In their court papers, Netflix attorneys argued the plaintiffs through their suit were trying "to convert Netflix's routine use of a publicly available, licensed stock photo into a 10-claim litigation with a (more than) $128 million payday."
Netflix attorneys called the Dihno family's allegations "meritless" and marred by "legal flaws" and "factual holes."
The Dihno family acknowledged that a third party, not Netflix, shot the photo and that it was then made available for licensing on the Shutterstock photo provider service, according to the streaming service's attorneys' court papers.
Even if Netflix were held responsible for shooting the image, the Dihnos do not have a "reasonable expectation of privacy in the view of the outside of their house," according to the Netflix attorneys' court papers.
According to the Dihno lawsuit, in September 2022, Netflix published an ad promoting "Buying Beverly Hills," a reality television show depicting the daily operations of The Agency, a real estate firm that sells high-end property. The show focuses specifically on The Agency's Beverly Hills office. The Agency is a co-defendant in the suit.
The ad included an image of the Dihno family's home, which is located on a ridgeline above the height of any nearby street or home and is not visible from any vantage point in the immediate vicinity, meaning the photo could only have been obtained with a drone, the suit filed March 21 stated.
The ad depicted the home's interior layout, entrances, exits and a deck accessible from the front entry way, and was published on Netflix's home page, the suit states. Netflix has 231 million subscribers alone and the image also was republished elsewhere on the Internet, the suit stated.
After the ad was shown, Dihno and his household "suffered a constant onslaught of visitors interested in seeing the property," causing the plaintiffs to fear for their safety and lose any sense of privacy, the suit states. The plaintiffs also have had harassing phone calls from real estate brokers interested in selling the property, according to the suit.
The plaintiffs believe families and homes associated with reality television programs are targets for criminals who want to burglarize homes seen on these series because entrances, exits and floor layouts are seen by them, the suit states. In March 2022, a neighbor of the plaintiffs was tied up in his own home and robbed at gunpoint by people who followed him to his house, and another nearby family was battered and robbed of $1 million in property by intruders, the suit states.
Dihno's personal business, which he operates out of his home, has been negatively impacted and the plaintiffs have suffered both emotional distress and reputation damage, according to the suit.
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