A Walt Disney Co. unit sued Doug las County-based Dish Network for copyright violations in connection with the distribution of movies on the Starz service.
Dish was accused of giving subscribers free access to the Starz premium television service, including copyrighted movies that were provided by Disney on the condition that Starz operate as a premium channel such as HBO, Cinemax and Showtime, the suit says.
Dish said in a statement that it pays “hundreds of millions of dollars” for the right to distribute Starz content to its customers, including the rights to Disney movies.
“Dish Network does not have visibility to the contract between Starz and Disney, but we will vigorously defend our rights against any attempt to drag customers into the middle of their dispute,” Dish said in an e-mailed statement.
