Posted on 06/07/2011 2:40:42 AM PDT by Las Vegas Dave
Washington, D.C. (June 6, 2011) -- Dish Network customers: If you're getting free Starz channels as part of a year-long promotional offer, don't worry, you can still watch them for free.
Reuters reports that a federal judge on Friday denied Walt Disney's bid to stop Dish Network from including such Disney movies as Toy Story 3 and Alice in Wonderland in the offer. The judge did not explain why he was rejecting Disney's request for an injunction.
However, Disney had filed a copyright infringement suit against Dish last month, saying it "devalued" its movies by including them in a giveaway promotional offer. As part of its 30th anniversary, Dish this year has offered Starz movie channels for free, saying its contract with Starz permits it to do so. (The free offer began in February and will last until February 2012 for all Dish customers.)
"Dish Network pays hundreds of millions of dollars for the right to distribute Starz content to our customers, which includes the rights to a number of Disney movies," Dish said last May.
But Disney argued that Starz only has permission to air its films if TV providers carried the channel as a premium. Starz joined Disney in the battle by filing its own lawsuit against Dish, urging the satcaster to stop the free promotional effort. That lawsuit is still pending.
Starz gets paid by Dish.
Disney gets paid by Starz.
Seems like Dish is the one taking the loss, voluntarily, to promote Starz which promotes Disney’s offerings.
Yet, Dish is the one getting sued. Starz and Disney get all this free exposure, while being paid, and they are unhappy.
F’em, drop both of them.
Although I think the Westerns Channel is part of the Starz package, so that would be a shame.
I think I’ve only seen three movies that I liked during this promotion, maybe four. If the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ starred Depp, I liked it okay. But it seems like it’s just the same bunch of movies shown over and over on different channels. One channel seems to be the ‘Stinker’ channel. Just big big bombs.
HBO, Cinemax, etc were the same way in their early years.
This is the proper role of the judiciary in a free society. The enforcement of contract law, the arbitration of disputes regarding private property rights.
devalue!?!? most people still have to pay to get dish....
I don't think I've watched anything on my free Starz yet. Most of the movies I watch are on Blu-ray or HDNet Movies or TCM.
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