LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – Mickey Mouse will likely prevail in a lawsuit against Redbox if he can obtain the preliminary injunction he's asking a federal judge for, according to entertainment law attorney Jody Simon.
Discussing Disney Enterprises Inc. v. Redbox Automated Retail LLC, a lawsuit stating Redbox had unlawfully acquired Disney Combo Packs and stripped them down to sell at its kiosks and website, Simon told Legal Newsline the recent preliminary injunction requested by Disney on Dec. 21 could end the fight.
“Yes, I do think Disney will prevail,” Simon said of the fight over Combo Packs, which are DVD and Blu-ray discs that have an code imprint allowing access to digital download.
The partner with Los Angeles-based Fox Rothschild LLP said if Disney wins, it will only prevent sales of the download codes.
“Redbox will be able to continue to rent Disney DVDs as it has been doing,” Simon said. “If Disney gets the preliminary injunction, that will probably mean the end of the case.”
The preliminary junction claims Redbox breached its contract with Disney by selling and transferring codes, violated contributory copyright infringement, interfered with Disney’s relationship with its customers and deceived customers into violating California’s business code.
Simon said it’s not likely that Redbox would want to continue go to trial once a judge has found that Disney is likely to succeed on the merits.
“That means that the case would settle,” Simon said. “The settlement would almost certainly require Redbox to stop selling the codes, and might also involve a monetary payment.”
Disney states the same.
“Absent a preliminary injunction, Disney will continue to suffer immediate and irreparable harms that money dames cannot fully remedy,” the company wrote in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division.
“The harms that Redbox’s illegal conduct causes include damages to Disney’s relationships, goodwill, and ability to negotiate with authorized licenses.”
According to the attorney, Redbox is only facing these allegations from Disney.
“Redbox is not selling download codes of other studios, so there haven’t been other claims,” Simon said.