Warner Bros, Paramount Announce Home Media Distribution Deal, Effective 1/2013

Paramount Home Media Distribution and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group today announced that they have reached a strategic alliance centering on more than 600 catalog titles from the Paramount film library. The deal grants Warner Bros. exclusive rights to physical Blu-ray and DVD distribution of those titles in the US and Canada, and will make Paramount's UltraViolet offerings available on a non-exclusive basis through Flixster, the Warner Bros. movie streaming and discovery service.

The agreement also grants Warner Bros. manufacturing on demand rights and the right to include UltraViolet Digital Copy bundled with packaged media. Paramount will retain all digital rights for their titles, including electronic sell-through (EST), video-on-demand (VOD) and subscription video-on-demand. Flixster will offer, on a non-exclusive basis, Paramount titles for sale in UltraViolet EST format, UltraViolet Disc-to-Digital and VOD. Flixster will also act as an UltraViolet Locker Access Service Provider for all Paramount UltraViolet titles, and as a redemption site for Paramount UltraViolet Digital Copies.

The three-year deal, which takes effect January 1, 2013, covers U.S. and Canadian rights only and includes titles such as Terms of Endearment, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Airplane!. The agreement excludes approximately 100 cornerstone Paramount titles, including the Transformers, Star Trek and Indiana Jones franchises. Under the same terms, Warner will gain access to select new titles after the initial 26-week release period.

Paramount will receive licensing fees from Warner Bros. and be entitled to various benefits under a long-term strategic cooperation agreement with Flixster.

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