ALARMED THAT MOVIE RENTAL KIOSKS may be hurting sales of new DVDs, three major studios have balked at selling them to kiosk providers until at least 28 days after their arrival in stores, creating a “window” for new releases setting off a legal skirmish that in large part continues to this day.
The window brouhaha started in October 2008, when kiosk provider Redbox, Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., sued Universal Studios Home Entertainment, alleging antitrust and copyright violations for prohibiting Redbox from renting Universal DVDs for 45 days after their release. Then in August 2009, Redbox sued Warner Home Video and 20th Century Fox over their policies restricting rentals until 28 days and 30 days after release, respectively.
In February of this year, Redbox reached an agreement with Warner that preserved the 28-day window but provides Redbox with reduced product costs and sufficient quantities of product. The other two suits are ongoing. Redbox declined to comment on its legal actions.
The window issue “is fairly invisible to consumers,” said Bill Bryant, vice president of sales, Ingram Entertainment, La Vergne, Tenn., a distributor of DVD software. With one of the cases resolved, he expects the others to be settled as well.
For its part, NCR, Duluth, Ga., which provides Blockbuster Express-branded kiosks, has avoided any legal confrontations with the studios. “We acquire new releases [from studios with window policies] at retail,” said Alex Camara, vice president and general manager, NCR Entertainment. “But we're trying to work with the studios to buy directly from them.”