A federal judge slapped an injunction on video-on-demand service Zediva, stating that the internet streaming service was violating the copyright of the major studios who filed a joint complaint in April.
Zediva maintained that since the films they were streaming were sourced from DVD, they were in effect “renting” the DVD. Unsurprisingly, Judge John F. Walter disagreed, stating that Zediva “threatens the development of a successful and lawful video-on-demand market.” (Come on guys, that was a pretty weak defense. You should have known that was going to get blown out of the water.)
Here’s an over self-congratulatory statement from Hollywood’s favorite lobbying group, the MPAA-
FEDERAL JUDGE GRANTS INJUNCTION AGAINST UNLICENSED VIDEO-ON-DEMAND SERVICE
MPAA Welcomes Zediva Decision
LOS ANGELES— Stating that its “service threatens the development of a successful and lawful video-on-demand market,” federal Judge John F. Walter today granted a preliminary injunction against the operators of Zediva, an unlicensed video-on-demand service that the MPAA’s member studios sued for copyright infringement in April 2011. The following is a statement by Dan Robbins, Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel for the MPAA, in response to the ruling in Los Angeles:
“Judge Walter’s decision is a great victory for the more than two million American men and women whose livelihoods depend on a thriving film and television industry. Judge Walter rejected Zediva’s argument that it was ‘renting’ movies to its users, and ruled, by contrast, that Zediva violated the studios’ exclusive rights to publicly perform their movies, such as through authorized video-on-demand services.
“Movie fans today have more on-demand options than ever for watching films at home, from iTunes to Netflix to Amazon to Vudu to Hulu to the VOD offerings from cable and satellite operators. All these legitimate companies have obtained licenses from the copyright owners. The court found Zediva’s service threatened the development of these lawful VOD and Internet-based services.”
Via The Wrap.
