October 24 - 4:10pm EDT   TiVo announced on Thursday it will add to its current on-demand video library with the addition of a Disney and Jaman VOD services. Jaman offers a selection of international independent movies and foreign films and serials and launched on Thursday, while Disney film rentals will come via CinemaNow and begin next week. Either is at least thus far being offered in standard definition only with MPEG-2 encoding. The new content is accessible through Series2 and Series3/HD DVR hardware. [full story]

September 30 - 2:05pm EDT   Several major studios plan to sue RealNetworks for what they believe is inherent copyright infringement in the company's RealDVD ripping software, according to a tip sent to the AP. Disney, Fox, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner are all said to believe that the software is deliberately bypassing the CSS encryption on DVD movies and so violating their copyrights. They also plan a temporary injunction on just-begun sales of the app, the unnamed source indicates. [full story]

May 29 - 9:30am EDT   A select number of movies should soon be available for sale from the UK and Canadian iTunes Stores, writes The Times. The British newspaper cites studio sources, who claim that Apple has signed new agreements with four major studios: Fox, Disney, Warner Bros. and Paramount. Lionsgate and MGM are also expected to join in the deal, but issues appear to remain with Sony and Universal. Crucially, people should be able to both buy and rent films from iTunes, at prices comparable to the countries' DVD and video-on-demand options. [full story]

May 12 - 4:50pm EDT   As IBM mainframes were the inspiration for one of the most famous digital villains – HAL 9000, of 2001: A Space Odyssey fame – so is Apple an influence upon the upcoming Disney Pixar release, Wall-E. CNN Money writes that when designing the movie's heroine, Eve, director Andrew Stanton described her as "high-end technology – no expense spared" and wanted it "to be seamless and for the technology to be sort of hidden and subcutaneous." [full story]

March 12 - 7:05pm EDT   Disney, as the launch partner for the iTunes video store, has seen approximately $123 million from the venture since its inception, which is a drop in the bucket when compared to the company's $35 billion in revenue last year, but is not without its upsides. Money made from the iTunes video store requires very little maintenance and planning, since companies don't have to market the product, while extraneous costs such as boxing, shipping, and other elements in distribution are not present. [full story]

March 7 - 6:40pm EST   Disney has announced that it will begin offering classic TV shows over the internet via its website. The company already sells full-length feature films and modern hit TV shows through Apple's iTunes Store, but classic shows which still remain unnamed will debut directly on Disney.com, according to the New York Times. "In the near future, you'll see more of that product available on Disney.com, either for free or through some sort of subscription," said Roger Iger, CEO of Disney. "Providing physical goods on DVD is tougher and tougher these days because shelf space is limited." [full story]

January 11 - 10:05am EST   A new version of the Apple TV will help spearhead an Apple video offensive, a new report claims. BusinessWeek writes that it has learned of the new set-top with certainty, although it cannot say what particular features it will bring. Other reports have indicated that users may be able to buy or rent videos directly from the device, which would address one of its long-standing complaints and put it into competition with the video-on-demand services provided by cable and satellite companies. [full story]

January 9 - 5:35pm EST   Major Hollywood content providers gave Apple and its iTunes Store a thumbs up during a panel discussion and Q&A session on Monday at the CES trade show in Las Vegas. The Cupertino-based company began offering hit TV shows and more than 2,000 music videos in October of 2005 after experiencing enormous success in the digital music industry. Deals with four Disney-owned studios -- Disney, Pixar, Miramax, and Touchstone Pictures -- were followed by a deal with Paramount Pictures and later Lionsgate films. [full story]

January 7 - 8:35am EST   Apple is close to scoring deals with most Hollywood studios but may have had to make significant concessions to get a large catalog of titles for an anticipated launch at Macworld San Francisco, sources have told BusinessWeek. While the movie houses have reportedly dropped attempts to protect DVD sales by insisting on month-long delays between physical and digital releases, Apple has had to raise the prices of new-release features at or near the $17 mark common for many DVDs to receive broader support. Which companies have asked for the tradeoff is unclear, though negotiations are purportedly close to extend or add movie sales and rentals from Lionsgate, Paramount, ... [full story]

December 31 - 10:40am EST   More details of the highly-anticipated iTunes rental service have been leaked, according to Variety. The movie trade magazine cites "studio sources" as saying that Fox and Disney are indeed confirmed as partners, and will make some sort of appearance during the January 14th Macworld keynote by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. The two may also be joined by other distributors, such as MGM, Lionsgate and Paramount, which like Fox and Disney already sell permanent downloads on the iTunes Store. [full story]

December 28 - 12:55pm EST   Apple's unconfirmed video rental service will debut with several companies onboard, not just one, according to the New York Times. The Financial Times recently uncovered a deal with 20th Century Fox, which should see new releases come straight to iTunes, and iPod-sized, FairPlay-encoded files carried on DVD titles. The New York Times now cites "several people familiar with the negotiations" as saying that when Fox appears on stage at Macworld January 14th, it will be joined by several other companies whose names are not being leaked. [full story]