Starz Sues Disney Over iTunes, Wal-Mart 
By Sherri - (0) comments March 25, 2007



The folks over at Disney might not be zippedy do dah’ing this week.

Starz Entertainment has slapped a lawsuit against Disney’s Buena Vista Television for its alleged violation of a 2005 licensing agreement that gave Starz the exclusive rights to market big-name Disney movies for download.

Starz is saying Disney’s agreements with iTunes and Wal-Mart for download sales of movies such as “Pirates of the Carbbean: Dead Man’s Chest” violates the deal, which Starz has paid more than $1 billion for.

“Our issue is that the contract has a clear prohibition from them doing this and we gave them notice, had a number of exchanges and had meetings and they denied our request for relief," Starz Entertainment Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Clasen has been quoted as saying. "We are absolutely adamant in protecting our contractual rights and licenses.”

The suit might seek all revenue enjoyed by Disney as a result of any sales via iTunes and Wal-Mart.

The suit in and of itself isn’t what’s interesting here. What is, however, is the fact that download rights are becoming big enough business to warrant territorial battles and lawsuits. Digital viewing has come a long way.

Related:
Starz, Azureus Pair Up
Disney Downloads Top 4 Million On iTunes

Labels: disney, itunes, online movies, online tv, starz, vongo, wal-mart

Starz, Azureus Pair Up 
By Sherri - (0) comments February 15, 2007



Starz Media and Azureus have teamed up to deliver yet another way for online viewers to get their fix of some darn good shows.

The pairing with Azureus’ Zudeo service will bring such cable shows as “Street Fighter Alpha,” “Masters of Horror” and “Tripping the Rift” to the download, peer-2-peer site.

“Through this partnership with Azureus, we hope to reach the millions of genre fans online and build upon the avid audience interested in our video titles and series,” Starz Media senior vice president of business development and strategy Marc DeBevoise has been quoted as saying. “We’re excited about Azureus’ high-resolution format and its potential.”

There’s no official word on when the content will roll out, but it should help seriously bolster Azureus, which was at one point a very popular torrent client. The site right now features a lot of trailers, some original content and anime.

The “Masters of Horror” inclusion is one that I’m particularly interest in. Although I have Showtime and a DVR, I have a nasty habit of forgetting to record.

Related:
Starz Entertainment, Vongo Close Deal
Vongo, Microsoft Team Up Announced
Vongo Starts Full Commercial Service

Labels: anime, azureus, masters of horror, starz, zudeo