Hollywood Studios Settle Copyright Lawsuit With VidAngel for $9.9 Million
VidAngel is a Utah-based streaming service provider that filters offensive and objectionable content for faith-and-family audiences. The service has settled its long-running copyright dispute with several studios for $9.9 million.
Major Hollywood studios dragged VidAngel to Court alleging unauthorized content streaming for $1
In June 2016, VidAngel was sued by major Hollywood studios namely Disney, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., 20th Century Fox Film Corporation and Lucas film Ltd. LLC. The studios claimed that the company “blatantly violated the Copyright Act”. It was alleged that the video streaming service circumvents “technological protection measures on DVDs and Blu-ray discs” to stream unauthorized copies of movies and television show for $1 per movie. The studios also contended that VidAngel offered content even before other streaming platforms like Netflix had the rights to it.
Los Angeles Court found VidAngel guilty of copyright Infringement in 2019
In July 2019, a Los Angeles jury found the company guilty of copyright infringement and ordered it to pay $62.4 million to Disney, Lucas film, Warner Bros. and Fox for infringing on hundreds of their titles.
VidAngel agrees to pay $9.9 million through a settlement agreement
Recently, VidAngel has negotiated a settlement agreement with the Hollywood studios. According to the terms of the agreement, VidAngel will not stream any content owned by the studios. The company will also pay off the settlement amount of $9.9 million in quarterly instalments over 14 years.
A Utah bankruptcy Court has approved the deal. This will allow VidAngel to emerge from bankruptcy and continue to operate.
The agreement between the studios and the streaming service provider has brought an end to a four-year-long copyright infringement battle.
