Conclusion to VidAngel Court Case
After years of legal battles, Provo, Utah, startup VidAngel has been ordered to pay $62.4 million in damages to Hollywood studios including Disney, Fox, and Warner Brothers.
Following a trial to determine damages for VidAngel’s infringement, the jury found VidAngel willfully infringed the plaintiffs' copyrights. Prior to the verdict, Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued VidAngel should be given the maximum punishment, $150,000 per infringement, plus $2,500 for each violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), totaling over $125 million. VidAngel’s attorneys argued VidAngel was merely an innocent infringer, instead asking for the minimum punishment and that VidAngel should only pay damages totaling approximately $600,000. The jury found VidAngel’s infringement willful, and awarded $75,000 in statutory damages per infringing work (of which there were 819), and $1,250 per work that violated the DMCA, totaling $62,448,780.
The damages trial follows the District Court grant of summary judgment in favor of the film studios. As reported in a previous blog post, the court held that VidAngel’s business model violated copyright laws by bypassing DVD encryption in violation of the DMCA, copying the works onto VidAngel’s servers, and streaming the works to VidAngel’s customers. The grant of summary judgment followed a 2016 preliminary injunction against VidAngel, forcing VidAngel to stop its current business practice. The injunction was upheld by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (see previous post).
Representatives for the plaintiffs said the ruling and damages is a warning to others that unlawful infringement and use will be punished. On June 17, VidAngel CEO Neal Harmon issued a statement noting VidAngel's "plans to appeal the District Court ruling, and explore options in the bankruptcy court" (VidAngel filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2017). On June 21, Harmon published an open letter to Disney’s CEO, proposing a settlement to the matter, but also indicating VidAngel is "preparing [its] appeal."