This morning’s ruling is limited to digital codes for certain titles, like Black Panther, that contain new disclosures, but were distributed after the 19 titles listed in Disney’s complaint,” the company said.
“Redbox remains free to sell codes for those prior titles.
Update: In a statement following the ruling, Redbox emphasized that it applies only to the revised “Black Panther” license terms, and not to the terms found on earlier DVD packs such as “Coco.” Redbox has avoided selling “Black Panther” download codes. In April, Redbox alleged that one of its employees had been threatened with jail time for trying to buy “Coco” DVDs at a big-box retailer. Redbox has argued that Disney’s lawsuit is an attempt to shut down a low-cost competitor, and has sued over Disney’s efforts to prevent Redbox from buying DVD packs. The injunction applies to any combo packs that use the language on the “Black Panther” DVDs. “Because Redbox did not obtain an ownership right to any digital content when it purchased Combo Packs, Disney has adequately shown that it is likely to succeed on its claim that Redbox encouraged Redbox customers to infringe Disney’s copyrights by redeeming Codes in violation of the license terms set forth on the redemption sites,” Pregerson wrote. Pregerson ruled Thursday that the new language is sufficient, and granted the injunction. Disney then filed a second request for an injunction. Disney then rewrote the language for the release of “Black Panther.” The new language is much more detailed, and asserts that Disney owns the digital copy and licenses it only to the buyer of the combo pack. Judge Dean Pregerson ruled that the warning on the combo packs, indicating that “codes are not for sale or transfer,” was not explicit enough to prohibit Redbox from reselling the codes. Disney’s first attempt to shut down the service failed in February.