Utah Movie-Filtering Company Ordered by Jury to Pay $62M to Studios

A Utah-based movie-filtering company has been ordered to pay more than $62 million to Disney and other Hollywood studios.

A California jury decided the damages last month against the company VidAngel, which had ripped the movies from DVDs and then streamed them for $1 per view with content like violence, nudity or strong language filtered out.

VidAngel CEO Neal Harmon says in a statement that the company plans to appeal, and the finding has “not lessened our resolve to save filtering for families one iota.”

They had argued that its business was protected by the Family Movie Act and the First Amendment. U.S. District Court Judge Andre Birotte Jr. disagreed, and decided in favor of Disney, 20th Century Fox, Lucasfilm, Warner Bros.

VidAngel has already filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.