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After being sued by four Hollywood companies for allegedly failing to pay for movie and television rights, Provo-based streaming site VidAngel Inc. filed a counterclaim Tuesday, stating that its actions and business plan are legal under the Family Movie Act.
In the counterclaim, VidAngel accuses the companies — Disney Enterprises, Inc., Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. — of distorting facts in favor of their argument and denies allegations of law breaking, court documents state.
VidAngel included photos of physical discs that the streaming company has purchased, which it then sells to customers and edits according to their wishes, in court documents. The Utah company was accused in the original suit of running a rental service under the guise of selling and buying back movies, but the recent filing contests the allegation.
"Once a VidAngel customer purchases a disc, that disc is no longer available for sale," court documents state. "The purchasing customer may request that the physical disc be mailed to him or her or may allow VidAngel to maintain custody of it."
The discs are stored in a vault monitored around the clock, VidAngel states in court documents.
The counterclaim lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in California, addresses specific allegations and requests for relief from the initial suit and adds that the Hollywood companies have a history of hostility toward any kind of filtering of their products.
Like the original plaintiffs, VidAngel has requested a jury trial.
The Hollywood companies acknowledged in their lawsuit that the Family Movie Act allows companies to edit films — usually for so-called inappropriate content — but only with the permission of copyright holders.
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