BVI-registered communications company sues Fox News for contract break
Last week Fox News Network, sued in a Federal Court by a BVI-based satellite pay television operator, has asked to dismiss the claim against it.
Orbit Communications Co. Ltd., which has its registered address in the British Virgin Islands, sued the Fox News Network, saying it improperly backed out of a contract that gave the company the right to broadcast the channel to customers in the region of Middle East and North Africa.
Fox News attorney Steven G. Mintz said in the court that the network ended the deal when realized that it is in contradiction with another agreement, giving similar distribution rights to Arab Digital Distribution – one of Orbit’s competitors. Also, by words of attorney, company’s contract with Orbit gave Fox the right to terminate the Dec.7, 2004 agreement immediately if the BVI company’s distribution of Fox channel infringed on the legal rights of a third party.
In its turn, Orbit said that it was just two months into its 4-year distribution deal when Fox stopped broadcasting. Company’s subscribers include both Arab-speaking residents of the Middle East as well as a “sizable contingent†of foreign expatriates who are speaking English. Orbit said it sought rights to distribute Fox News Network “to broaden the editorial perspectives available on the Orbit News Channel.†The deal called for the Fox News Channel to be broadcast in an area of Middle East and North Africa, except for Iran, Somalia and Sudan. Orbit filed the lawsuit seeking for compensatory damages and an order forcing Fox News to comply with the terms of the contract.
The BVI-registered Orbit Communications began operations in 1993, and is said to be the first satellite pay television operator in the Middle East. Now it broadcasts its remaining networks – ABC, NBC and MSNBC – in the region from Morocco to Saudi Arabia.