DVD Kiosk Outfit Files Suit Against Fox

OAKBROOK TERRACE: Redbox, which operates DVD rental kiosks in more than 15,000 locations across the U.S., has lodged a suit against 20th Century Fox over new distribution terms proposed by the studio.

Redbox allows users to rent DVDs for $1 per night. The discs can be picked up and returned to the Redbox kiosks. Fox has said that as of the end of October, it will wait for 30 days after a DVD has been made available to retail before providing releases to Redbox.

Redbox filed the suit in Delaware Federal Court yesterday. Mitch Lowe, the president of the company, said in a statement: "Redbox’s cornerstone principles include providing customers with a convenient way to rent new release DVDs at an affordable price. At the expense of consumers, 20th Century Fox is attempting to prohibit timely consumer access to its new release DVDs at redbox retail locations nationwide. Despite this attempt, redbox will continue to provide our consumers access to all major new releases including 20th Century Fox titles at our more than 15,000 redbox DVD rental locations."

The news of the lawsuit came after Redbox announced a multi-year distribution agreement with Lionsgate, expanding the slate of the independent studio’s titles available from the kiosks. Redbox signed a similar distribution agreement with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) in July.