VidAngel appeals against injunction won by Hollywood studios
Online streaming website VidAngel has appealed against a decision which saw Hollywood studios obtain an injunction against the site.
On December 12, Judge Andre Birotte Jr ordered a preliminary injunction against the site, which offers $1 films with parental controls.
Disney, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros filed the lawsuit in June this year, alleging copyright infringement and violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
The claim said: “VidAngel charges users for watching that content but has no authorisation and pays nothing for the rights it exploits. At its core, VidAngel is no different from many other unlawful online services.”
It claimed that the streaming service doesn’t have permission to copy the films and TV shows, and “appears to circumvent the technological protection measures on DVDs and Blu-ray discs to create unauthorised copies”.
VidAngel counterclaimed in July, alleging violation of antitrust laws.
Last week, Birotte ordered a preliminary injunction, stating that the studios had “sufficiently shown that they will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction”.
He also ordered the studios to put up a $250,000 bond, while stopping VidAngel from circumventing the protection on the copyrighted works, copying the works, and engaging in streaming activity.
Now, VidAngel has appealed against the injunction to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
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