Disney filed a lawsuit against Redbox at the end of 2017 claiming that the media giant was violating copyrights by reselling digital copy codes for their films.
When Redbox purchases Disney-released films, they are required to buy them in a combo pack paying retail prices in order to rent the discs to consumers via their kiosks. In order to offset those high costs, Redbox began pulling the digital codes provided with the combo packs and sold them to their customers separately. Back in February, a judge found that Disney’s “codes are not for sale or transfer” warning was not clear enough and did not issue a sanction against Redbox for their practices.
According to the new filing, Disney revised the terms on RedeemDigitalMovie.com and Movies Anywhere to make it more clear that “only those who purchase the combo packs are allowed to redeem the digital download codes.”
Disney/ABC home Home Entertainment President Janice Marinelli says,
“Redbox is unfairly undercutting Disney’s licensees by charging substantially less for codes than the price licensees charge for digital downloads. The obvious consequence of Redbox undercutting of licensee prices is that licensees will likely sell fewer digital downloads of Disney movies and Disney will earn less revenue. Although the exact amount cannot be easily quantified.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney has told the judge in the case that even after modifying online licensing terms and providing the terms to Redbox, they are still refusing to stop selling codes.
As we know, Black Panther, is set to arrive on digital May 8, 2018, and on Blu-ray May 15, 2018 and Disney is likely concerned about how this will affect sales of digital copies.
Another hearing on the matter is set for June 4, 2018.
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter and PacerMonitor.com
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