Protecting what is lawfully one’s own property is important, especially to companies. Unfortunately, it is not unusual for companies to face issues with outside parties that result in intellectual property being threatened. If another person or entity commits copyright violations, the negatively affected companies may need to move forward with litigation.
New York readers may be interested in the outcome of such a case that involved Disney, 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers. According to recent reports, VidAngel, a company that edits movies to remove material that may not be suited for everyone, was accused of copying movies and streaming them to customers without the consent of the movie studio companies. The claims also indicated that VidAngel was streaming certain movies before services like Netflix.
Disney and the other movie studios claim that VidAngel violated their copyright protections. VidAngel apparently argued that its service could operate under the 2005 Family Movie Act, an argument which the court did not accept. The court also did not believe that VidAngel made a strong argument in regard to using the material under fair use law. As a result, Disney, Warner Brothers and other plaintiffs in the case were awarded $62.4 million. It was noted that the CEO for VidAngel plans to appeal the ruling.
Copyright violations are serious matters for companies, and, as this case shows, taking legal action may be necessary in order for the violations to come to an end and for damages to be paid. New York companies who believe that they have suffered from such violations may wish to consider their own legal options. Any type of lawsuit can be daunting to face, but it may be necessary to protect intellectual property.