Kiosk Vendors Fighting 45 Day Kiosk Release Window

Video Business reports that DVD rental kiosk vendors Redbox and TNR are fighting Universal Studios attempts to delay kiosk rentals for 45 days after the DVD release.

TNR, which has about 2,200 The New Release and MovieCube kiosks, hired Houston-based Yetter, Warden & Coleman to advise the company on how to respond to Universal's “take it or leave it” revenue-sharing agreement, which would also force TNR to limit the number of copies of Universal titles it stocks and require TNR to destroy DVDs after their rental cycle. Redbox earlier this month sued Universal for attempting to enforce the agreement.

If Universal wins, it would be good news for Netflix, but bad news for Blockbuster since they're investing heavily in kiosks.

Comments

[Complication]

Couldn't they just buy the DVD's outright instead of revenue sharing much like Netflix usually does? The first sale doctrine makes it so Universal has no say in the matter.

[Complication]

I should have RFA first. Universal is threatening to cutoff Redbox's suppliers unless they agree to these stupid terms. Looks like Redbox will have to get new suppliers.

[Jeff R.]

I'm pretty sure that what Universal is trying to pull is illegal.

While a ruling against Redbox may be good for Netflix, it will be bad for consumers as a whole. I'm hoping for a ruling against Universal on this one.

[Christopher Thelen]

I don't see why Netflix is so threatened by kiosks and in support of this. I've been a Netflix subscriber for three years, and I use kiosks occasionally. The benefit of kiosks is that I can get new releases that Netflix has on "long wait" or "extremely long wait" almost immediately for about a dollar. However, the negative is that kiosks carry theatrical films only with no bonus discs, while Netflix carries unrated versions and supplemental discs.

The real loser in this battle could be the consumer if Universal wins. But, since we're the ones who keep companies like Universal afloat, are we really surprised that they don't care what we think or want?