Netflix Hit With Major Setback in ‘Making a Murderer’ Lawsuit

On Thursday, The Hollywood Reporter shared an update about Netflix’s lawsuit surrounding Making A Murderer. According to THR, Netflix attempted to have the libel lawsuit against them dismissed. But, a federal judge in Wisconsin decided that this case would not be dismissed.

Making a Murderer, which premiered on the streaming service back in late 2015, featured a look at the life of Steven Avery. In the series, Avery was exonerated of one murder and later charged with another. The lawsuit in question stems from Andrew Colburn, who is a retired Wisconsin police sergeant. Colborn is alleging that Netflix’s Making a Murderer insinuated that he planted evidence to try to frame Avery for the aforementioned second murder.

U.S. District Court Judge Brett Ludwig is apparently not on board with Netflix’s methods of defense when it comes to this case. THR, which obtained a full copy of the judge’s opinion on the matter, noted that Ludwig isn’t pleased with the “extensive motion practice” involved. The publication also detailed some of the ways that Netflix has attempted to defend itself in this case. The streaming service said that they adhered to fair report privilege, which would allow one to republish statements from government proceedings. They are reportedly arguing that what Colburn has taken issue with was information that was provided by Avery’s defense at his murder trial. They also said that it could be information that was gathered from those who were aware of went down in those proceedings.

As for how Ludwig responded to Netflix’s defense, he reportedly believes that the streaming service is trying to seek immunity from anything that would be considered the “true crime” genre. He also took issue with Netflix asserting that the information that they presented about Avery’s trial in Making a Murderer is factually correct and not a potentially dramatized depiction of the events for entertainment purposes (the judge said that this matter would be a topic for another discussion). This would come in direct contrast with what Colburn is alleging. In his lawsuit against Netflix, Colburn claimed that the series “intentionally altered excerpts from the Avery trial transcripts.” The judge wrote, “Neither the Supreme Court nor the Seventh Circuit has ever suggested a speaker enjoys unconditional First Amendment immunity for making defamatory statements simply because the statements concern legal proceedings.”