VidAngel: Consumer choice, media law and the future of content flexibility

Abstract

VidAngel, a popular video streaming service that allowed consumers to edit out objectionable content, faced a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by several Hollywood film studios. The company was just beginning to gain traction when the studios filed a suit alleging that the VidAngel business model, which required modifications to the original work and subsequently filtered streamed content to viewers, violated US copyright law and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act 1998. The problems of growing the market for its services were sidelined by the serious managerial distractions related to fighting for survival in a David and Goliath-type struggle. The case lays out the basics of relevant copyright laws, details the business and marketing models and describes VidAngel’s efforts to provide a legal and profitable service to a public that demanded it. After an analysis of the legal issues, this paper concludes with some thoughts about reconciling streamed and filtered video content with applicable copyright laws.