Canada rebukes Netflix over disaster footage in Bird Box

Lawmakers in Canada have called on Netflix to compensate victims of a rail disaster in Quebec after the streaming service used real footage of the crash in its film Bird Box.

The post-apocalyptic movie includes images from the 2013 disaster, where a train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded, killing 47 people in Lac-Megantic. The clip has also been used in the series Travelers.

Following the film’s release last month, the town’s mayor demanded that Netflix remove the footage. “You can be sure we are going to follow up on this, and our citizens are on our side,” said Julie Morin.

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Parliament has now demanded that Netflix pay compensation to the community of Lac-Megantic for using the disaster for entertainment purposes with no concern for the trauma it would cause to survivors and victims’ families, the Canadian Press reports.

“For people in Lac-Megantic, they saw images of their own downtown burning, and could imagine their own family members in it,” said Canadian legislator Pierre Nantel.

MPs also voted to demand that the streaming service remove all images of the Lac-Megantic tragedy from its library.

The motion is non-binding, but it is a “stern rebuke from legislators,” says the Associated Press.

Netflix has said it “understands that many feel frustration and sadness at seeing images of this tragic event,” but it cannot make changes to “finished content.”