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Utah-based VidAngel loses another bid to edit Disney movies

VidAngel is a Provo-based filtering company that provides customers with a means to stream TV shows and movies and alter the content according to their personal preferences.

A federal judge on Wednesday once again ruled against Provo-based VidAngel, saying the filtering company will remain banned from using its technology on movies from four leading Hollywood studios.

Disney, Lucasfilm, Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros. sued in U.S. District Court in California last year, accusing VidAngel of violating their rights by operating an unauthorized streaming service, which is meant to remove objectionable content from shows and movies.

In December, a judge ordered VidAngel to stop offering video content from the companies until the lawsuit is resolved. Last month, VidAngel attorneys filed a motion saying they had a new type of filtering technology utilizing existing streaming services such as Netflix — and that it didn’t violate the judge’s injunction order.

But Andre Birotte, a judge for the Central District of California, denied VidAngel’s motion Wednesday and canceled a Friday hearing on the subject.

“Whereas the previous version of VidAngel’s service involved the decryption of a DVD or Blu-ray disc, VidAngel’s current service involves generating a framebuffer version of movie data from a digital transmission that VidAngel purchases through a licensed streaming service,” the judge wrote.

“VidAngel’s request for a declaration that their new service doesn’t violate the court’s order is essentially an action for a declaratory judgment and is not appropriate for resolution in a motion to clarify,” Birotte said.

VidAngel’s original service allowed customers to virtually “buy” DVDs for $20. They would select which parts they wanted to remove — such as curse words or nudity — then watch the movie and sell it back for $19 of VidAngel credit.

Its current offering, which costs $7.99 per month, requires subscribers to also have a subscription to one of the major streaming services, such as Netflix, Amazon or Hulu. VidAngel is allowed to continue to offer its bleeping and filtering services for content produced by companies not involved in the lawsuit.

“Judge Birotte’s denial of VidAngel’s motion today was based purely on procedural grounds and not on the merits of our case,” VidAngel said in a statement. “Our attorneys are evaluating the decision and will decide next steps in the near future. It is important for everyone to note that this does not affect VidAngel’s new system, which is fully up and running; it simply delays our ability to provide customers with content created by the plaintiffs.”