Netflix Defeats Journalist’s Copyright Suit Over ‘Narcos’

A Colombian journalist didn’t show that Netflix Inc.'s hit show “Narcos” copied protectable portions of her memoir about her affair with Pablo Escobar, a federal court in Florida ruled.

The common aspects of two disputed scenes are factual and not subject to copyright protection, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida said. And the general ideas and themes of plaintiff Virginia Vallejo’s book “Amando a Pablo, Odiando a Escobar” (“Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar”), such as power and manipulation, also aren’t protectable, the court said.

Netflix, Narcos Productions LLC, and international distributor Gaumont Television USA LLC are entitled ...