So Far Dish Seems to be Winning
Reviving thread for an important update from Law360:
Law360, New York (June 2, 2011) --
In a contract and copyright battle in New York federal court, a judge on Thursday denied Walt Disney Co.’s request to temporarily block Dish Network LLC from broadcasting copyrighted Disney movies on the Starz channel without charging customers extra.
In a one-line order, U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels of the Southern District of New York denied Disney’s motion for a preliminary injunction in its May complaint against Dish claiming the satellite TV provider violated an agreement as well as copyrights on popular movies by giving subscribers free access to Starz, which is a premium television service.
Disney, joined in the suit by Buena Vista Pay Television Inc., claims its January 2010 agreement with Starz giving it limited rights to show certain Disney movies includes a provision that requires Starz to operate as a pay television service, like HBO or Showtime.
“Neither plaintiffs nor Starz consented to Dish’s scheme to provide its subscribers with Starz programming for free, which is in direct violation of plaintiffs’ exclusive rights under federal copyright law,” the complaint said.
A representative for Disney was not immediately available to comment on the judge's order.
Dish’s offer of free Starz access to its subscribers has already resulted in repeated and ongoing infringement of the plaintiffs' copyrights, the lawsuit claims, with subscribers improperly getting free access to movies such as “Alice in Wonderland” and “Toy Story 3.”
Dish’s free Starz offer prevents the plaintiffs from effectively controlling the way their copyrighted movies are shown by third parties and puts a wrench in the common practice called windowing, whereby content providers like Disney carefully sequence the licensing of rights to show their movies after a theatrical release, according to the complaint.
The windowing system sets up a series of valuable premieres and windows of exclusive distribution rights, first on premium TV channels and subsequently on basic cable television, the complaint contends.
Dish’s actions have effectively allowed certain movies to leapfrog the period of time Disney had contractually reserved exclusively for pay TV services, and threaten to undermine Disney’s other contractual relationships, the lawsuit claims.
Dish has defended its actions, claiming it pays hundreds of millions of dollars for the right to distribute Starz content, which includes the rights to a number of Disney movies.
“Our current distribution of Disney content on Starz is permitted under our contract with Starz. Dish Network does not have visibility to the contract between Starz and Disney, but we will vigorously defend our rights against any attempt to drag our customers into the middle of their dispute,” the company said in a statement when the lawsuit was filed.
The plaintiffs are seeking a ruling from the court stopping Dish from offering Starz programming for free, as well as damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, and attorneys' fees and costs.
Disney and Buena Vista are represented by David L. Yohai, Theodore E. Tsekerides and David R. Singh of
Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP.
Dish is represented by J. Peter Coll, Jr., Kent Goss and Valerie M. Goo of
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.
The case is Disney Enterprises Inc. and Buena Vista Pay Television Inc. v. Dish Network LLC, case number 1:11-cv-02973, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
--Editing by Eydie Cubarrubia.
Court Won't Block Dish's Free Starz Offer In Disney Row - Law360
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