Theft of hard drive carrying Nicolas Cage film sparks suit against Netflix

LOS ANGELES (KESQ) - The theft of a hard drive containing a copy of an as-yet unreleased Nicolas Cage movie has sparked a $105 million lawsuit against Netflix by Los Angeles filmmakers who allege the future sale of the project is in jeopardy, according to court papers obtained today.

The complaint filed Wednesday in Los Angeles federal court by writer-producer Simon Afram and his company, Op-Fortitude, contends that Netflix compromised the sale of the World War II spy thriller by losing an unencrypted master copy of the movie, titled "Fortitude," when several hard drives were stolen from Netflix offices in Los Angeles last month.  

The lawsuit seeks at least $105 million in damages as a result of the theft.  

"Netflix disputes any claim that it bears the risk of loss for a film delivered without the proper industry-standard safeguards,'' a company spokesperson said in a statement. "While we do not own the rights to Fortitude, we take content security seriously and have taken extra measures to support the filmmaker and his team. This includes conducting a thorough investigation and offering to monitor known piracy sites for any unauthorized distribution or sale."  

The suit blames Netflix for allegedly refusing to disclose whether it filed a police report or requested law enforcement investigate the theft. According to the complaint, Netflix later declined a request by the filmmakers to involve the Los Angeles Police Department after they filed their own report.