Blending Leadership: Will Not vs. Can Not

Netflix included real news footage of a terrible train accident in its film Bird Box. The footage was acquired from a stock video provider, who licenses this footage so that it can be used, most likely, in films, television, and other media when that train accident is contextually relevant. In Bird Box, it was used in a fictional portrayal of the aftermath of some sort of alien/bio-terror something or other. The producers may have thought it was fair use and maybe did not even think about how others might feel about it. The stock film provider may not have ever considered someone using the footage out of context.

Regardless, the actual distribution system of this video gives Netflix a choice that most other media forms would not. That is, since this film is primarily streamed through their service (or if downloaded, with an expiration), they could go back and in post-production, fairly seamlessly replace that footage. It is not material to the overall plot. I am sure it bears a cost, but by doing this they could actually update all future viewings of this film for all future consumers. This would never be the case with traditional media, where once replicated it is out there (and there could be two versions). It's a choice that did not exist before and it is interesting to see how Netflix is approaching it (their current position as of this posting is to not make any change).