Redbox is pushing back at Disney’s attempt to stop it from renting multi-packs of movies individually.
The movie rental kiosk company told a California judge it has every right to break open the multipacks and rent the Blu-ray disc and DVD separately — plus sell the enclosed redeemable code.
Redbox said Hollywood studios tried a similar tactic at the dawn of the video cassette rental business — and failed.
“Years ago, the movie studios attempted to quash competition by suing movie rental companies to prevent them from renting and reselling videocassettes,” Redbox said. “The courts rejected those efforts and held movie rental companies had the right to rent and sell the movies they purchased.”
Disney sued Redbox in November to stop the discount movie rental business from breaking open the multipacks. It claimed Redbox was violating copyright infringement and contract law — as the codes were marked “not for sale or transfer.”
Judge Dean P. Pregerson has set a hearing for March.