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A federal judge in California on Thursday declined to delay enforcement of an order stopping a Provo-based streaming site from providing edited versions of movies and TV shows from four Hollywood companies.
VidAngel Inc. had asked U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte to allow it to continue operations while it appealed a preliminary injunction temporarily barring the site from streaming or transmitting the copyrighted works of the four companies during a legal dispute.
Birotte ruled that VidAngel had not shown a likelihood that it would prevail on its appeal, "nor has it shown that the balance of hardships tips sharply in its favor or that the public interest is best served by a stay."
VidAngel CEO Neal Harmon issued a news release Thursday, saying the service will comply with the preliminary injunction, which Birotte issued on Dec. 12.
"Because judges rarely grant a stay of their own orders, we fully expected the court to rule this way and had already commenced an expedited appeal of the preliminary injunction," Harmon said. "VidAngel is now requesting an emergency stay of the injunction from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals."
The streaming site allows viewers to filter certain words, nudity or violence from movies. Users "buy" a movie for $20, view it and then "sell" it back for $19 in VidAngel credit that same day.
The Hollywood companies — Disney Enterprises, Inc., Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. — filed suit in June in federal court in Los Angeles, accusing VidAngel of failing to pay for movie and television rights. VidAngel filed a counterclaim in July, saying its actions and business plan are legal under the Family Movie Act.
The entertainment companies acknowledge that the statute allows editing of films — but only with the permission of copyright holders.
Twitter: @PamelaManson