In October, Redbox launched a service offering “digital codes” for customers to be able to purchase Disney movies at from its nationwide network of kiosks. The kiosks dispense a printed code with information on how to stream or download them to various devices from Disney’s services or affiliated sites.
Seeking injunctions and various damages starting at $150,000 per statutory award, Disney cites a slew of top titles including Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Frozen and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales as being included in the unbundlable “Combo Packs” that Redbox offers customers.
“Plaintiffs have lost and will continue to lose sales as a direct result of Redbox’s unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent conduct,” Disney says in the jury trial-seeking suit alleging copyright infringement and breach of contract.
In response, a Redbox spokeswoman said, “While we don’t comment on pending litigation, we feel very confident in our pro-consumer position.” The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Redbox is only offering digital copies of Disney movies because it doesn’t have a distribution arrangement with the studio and buys retail copies of its discs to rent to customers. Those retail DVDs come with digital download codes. Redbox receives special copies of DVDs and Blu-ray discs from other studios with which it has deals that don’t contain digital codes.
Disney filed suit against Redbox in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division, in Los Angeles. The case number is 2:17-cv-08655.