Beehive Startups | Here’s The Latest VidAngel Legal Update

“Our legal team, led by David Quinto, did a first-rate job presenting the facts of the case, detailing why our customers should continue to have the right to filter content as the larger legal process plays out. We look forward to the decision of the Court.”

Time for another episode of Lawsuit She Wrote, wherein I try to explain any and all updates in the VidAngel case. New here? Well why don’t you get yourself caught up here, here, here, here, and here.

The latest chapter in this legal saga is titled, Preliminary Hearing, and it took place in November. Attorneys from Disney, 20th Century Fox, LucasFilm presented their arguments in the hopes of having VidAngel’s operations stopped, and VidAngel’s attorneys presented their arguments in the hopes of preventing an injunction. Judge Briott ruled in favor of…………wait for it………………………..We don’t know.

And we may not know until the parties assemble again on December 19th for the antitrust hearing. “At the end [of the hearing], the judge indicated that he would see us all back in the courtroom on December 19th for oral argument on the studios’ motion to dismiss VidAngel’s antitrust counterclaim,” explains VidAngel CEO Neal Harmon. So as of now, VidAngel finds itself in ruling limbo.

But unlike limbo, like the dance, VidAngel is not going low. No, they’re keeping their spirits high and moving forward with optimism. “Our legal team, led by David Quinto, did a first-rate job presenting the facts of the case, detailing why our customers should continue to have the right to filter content as the larger legal process plays out. We look forward to the decision of the Court,” Harmon says. “VidAngel is on a rock-solid legal foundation because we built our company to strictly comply with the 2005 Family Movie Act, a law that clearly protects and encourages entertainment filtering services, without requiring the permission of major studios.”

Harmon also expresses appreciation for the judge providing over the case. “Judge Birotte was extremely well prepared and took the time to ask a series of thoughtful questions,” he says. “We’re grateful that Judge Birotte is taking the case very seriously given its impact on untold millions of American families, and look forward to the next opportunity to present the facts of the case.”

That opportunity is right around the corner. So I’ll see you here again soon.