Netflix Win in ‘Narcos’ Copyright Case Appealed by Journalist

A Colombian journalist has appealed a Miami federal court’s ruling that Netflix Inc.'s hit show “Narcos” didn’t infringe copyrights in her memoir about her experiences with drug lord Pablo Escobar.

The common aspects of two scenes from “Narcos” and Virginia Vallejo’s book “Amando a Pablo, Odiando a Escobar” were factual and not copyright-protected, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida said Nov. 8. Vallejo appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Dec. 6.

Vallejo’s memoir describes her relationship with Escobar and the rise of the Colombian cartels. “Narcos,” which is about the ...