Sources announced recently that both Starz Entertainment and Walt Disney Co. have filed a lawsuit against Dish Network. The claim? Both companies are unhappy with Dish Network’s decision to give subscribers a free year of Starz, a service that normally costs subscribers $13 per month.
While Starz has their own lawsuit regarding Dish Network’s decision, Disney, which is one of Starz’s biggest suppliers of content, says that Dish Network’s decision to give away Starz for free is hurting the value of Disney’s movies. Additionally, Disney also claims that the actions of Dish Network are hurting the Walt Disney Co.’s relationship with the other networks that purchase the rights to Disney movies.
Disney’s lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in New York City, understandably brought about a response from Dish Network. According to Dish, “[the company] pays hundreds of millions of dollars for the right to distribute Starz content to our customers, which includes the rights to a number of Disney movies.” Additionally, Dish said that “our current distribution of Disney content on Starz is permitted under our contract with Starz.”
The response to Disney’s lawsuit then goes on to say that Dish believes Disney should be angry with Starz, not them. In the statement, Dish Network says that “[they] do not have visibility to the contract between Starz and Disney, but [they] will vigorously defend [their] rights against any attempt to drag our customers into the middle of their dispute.”
We will keep you updated on the status of the lawsuit between Disney and Dish Network when new information arises.
