Here are the factual allegations, as set forth in last week's long opinion by Justice Mark Hanasono, joined by Justice Anne Egerton, in Dinho v. Netflix, Inc.:
Plaintiffs' home is on a ridgeline in the Hollywood Hills. The property is guarded by a private gate and the home is not visible from any nearby street. The closest publicly accessible vantage point from which the home can be seen is 1,034 feet away….
Netflix began using a photo of plaintiffs' home in an advertisement for Buying Beverly Hills, one of its reality shows which depicts the operations of a real estate firm. The photo was taken by nonparty Ashwin Rao. Rao published the photo on Shutterstock.com (Shutterstock), "a website that allows any person with [I]nternet access to license photographs to the public for specific uses." Netflix hired Williams Creative Agency (WC+A) to produce the advertisement, and WC+A licensed the photo from Shutterstock for use in the advertisement.
Rao allegedly took the photo without [plaintiff] Dihno's knowledge or consent using a drone or other specialized photography equipment. The photo depicted interior and exterior details of the home not visible from any public location, including the "room layout" and the entrances and exits….
Netflix published the advertisement on its own website and on several other websites. Netflix did so without plaintiffs' knowledge or permission. Both Netflix and WC+A knew that the home was not associated with or depicted in Buying Beverly Hills….
[P]eople began to visit plaintiffs' home "on a daily basis" asking to see it and claiming they learned it was for sale through the Buying Beverly Hills advertisement. One woman rang the doorbell, demanded to enter the home, and refused to leave. Dihno called the police and the woman was arrested. Other people attempted to open plaintiffs' front gate and climb over their fence. [Plaintiffs] would only answer the doorbell for friends or relatives who provided advanced notice of their visit. In addition, [Plaintiffs] received calls "more than once daily" from real estate agents who sought to represent the family in selling the home.
Note that the ad apparently didn't include the address of the home, or the names of the owners. More from the allegations:
