VidAngel settles with Hollywood studios

By Emmanuel Legrand

VidAngel has reached a settlement with Hollywood studios Disney and Warner Bros. after they had successfully sued the video distribution platform for copyright infringement. VidAngel filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and the new settlement will allow to company to resume operations. The settlement was finalised in Utah’s bankruptcy court under the supervision of Judge Kevin R. Anderson. 

  "After a long and extremely difficult legal battle in one of the biggest copyright cases in decades, we have finally come to an agreement in which VidAngel can emerge from bankruptcy and move forward as a rapidly growing company,” said VidAngel CEO Neal Harmon. 

  Details of the legal settlement include:

   - Disney and Warner Brothers have agreed to compromise and substantially discount the $62.4 million-dollar District Court judgment against VidAngel.
  - VidAngel has agreed to pay $9.9m over 14 years to Disney and Warner Brothers.   
  - VidAngel has agreed not to decrypt, copy, stream or distribute content of Disney, Warner Brothers, and their affiliates without permission from the Studios.    
  - VidAngel has agreed to drop its 9th Circuit legal appeal.

Difficult concessions

  "As with any compromise, we had to make painfully difficult concessions to arrive at this agreement, as did Disney and Warner Brothers," said Harmon. "We want to thank the team at Disney and Warner Brothers for negotiating this settlement in good faith. We also want to thank our fans and supporters, millions of people who have stood with us through thick and thin over the last four years of a battle that all-too-often looked lost and hopeless. Now, we can reward you for all of your support with incredible original content like 'The Chosen' and 'Dry Bar Comedy' and expand our mission to help you make entertainment good for your home."

  VidAngel's proprietary technology allows families to "skip" unwanted language, nudity, violence, and other undesired content from movies and TV shows streaming on Netflix, and Amazon Prime.