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Baby Reindeer under legal scrutiny: defamation, identification, serious harm and creative licence in Martha Harvey v Netflix

Published on: 22 July 2024

Published by a LexisNexis TMT expert
Legal News
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Article summary

In the curious case of Fiona Harvey versus the streaming giant Netflix, the plot thickens.

Netflix’s latest hit series 'Baby Reindeer' has set tongues wagging across the board. It charts comedian Richard Gadd (playing himself) and his real‑life ordeal with a stalker. Yet from the moment it aired earlier this year, weighty legal and ethical questions have hovered over privacy, commercial exploitation, and whether Netflix owed Ms Harvey a duty of care. Those debates centre on privacy, commercial exploitation, and the platform’s putative duty of care to Ms Harvey. Ms Harvey, reportedly the unwilling inspiration for 'Martha' in the programme, is not merely seeking the price of a subscription back; she is pursuing a $170m lawsuit. She alleges the show’s supposed failure to shield her identity caused defamation, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and infringements of the right of publicity. Now, cue the legal theatrics about what, exactly, turns a defamation battle into a finale‑worthy cliffhanger — or not. It is worth noting that, for the time being, Harvey’s claim has been issued and will be heard in California, USA. If that very claim were instead advanced in England and Wales, the Defamation Act 2013 would be the relevant...

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