Universal Studios oversteps copyright law

By Michael Fraase

Wednesday, 29 October 2008 08:17PM CST

Section: Intellectual property

Copyright symbol Redbox, the US DVD rental company that has kiosks in McDonalds and other retail locations, has filed a lawsuit against Universal Studios. The lawsuit alleges that the movie studio is abusing US copyright law and engaging in anticompetitive behavior. Redbox claims that an agreement Universal attempted to force upon it would prohibit it from selling used DVDs, limit the number of DVDs distributed through the kiosks, wait 45 days after a DVD’s release to rent it, and best of all—wait for it—give Universal 40% of its gross revenues.

Redbox rents DVDs for US$1 per day and sells used DVDs for US$7 at more than 10,000 kiosks throughout the United States.

The sale of used DVDs, in case you were wondering, is protected by the first sale doctrine, section 109(a) of US copyright law. It specifically allows a copyrighted item to be resold or given away without permission or license from the copyright holder.

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