PBS Distribution

PBS Distribution (PBSd), formerly known as PBS Home Video, is the home video distribution unit of American television network PBS. The company releases and sells home videos of PBS series and movies and PBS Kids series in various formats.

It is jointly owned by the Public Broadcasting Service and the WGBH Educational Foundation.

It is currently distributing PBS programs and movies on DVD, Blu-ray, digital downloads, and streaming media and PBS Kids programs on DVD. In 2017 independent films produced by PBSd were added for theatrical distribution and home video releases.

The PBS Home Video company, established in 1977, originally distributed and sold VHS and Betamax tapes simply on their own.

When they decided to gain wider distribution in 1989, PBS Home Video began several decades of going through commercial distributors. New releases from 1989 to 1994 were distributed by Pacific Arts. However, in the early 1990s, Pacific Arts and PBS went through a series of serious disagreements. Lawsuits were filed: by Nesmith and Pacific Arts against PBS for breach of contract, intentional misrepresentation (fraud), intentional concealment (fraud), negligent misrepresentation, and interference with contract; and by PBS against Nesmith and Pacific Arts for lost royalties. The lawsuits escalated in 1994 and 1995 into major litigation between the parties over these rights and payments. PBS and Nesmith and Pacific Arts vigorously prosecuted these multi-million dollar counter-suits.

The six plaintiffs included PBS, including WGBH in signings, WNET in signings, American Documentaries and Radio Pioneers Film Project (production companies owned by producer Ken Burns), and the Children's Television Workshop. They sought approximately $5 million in disputed royalties, advances, guarantees, and license fees for programs and the use of the PBS logo from the defendants Pacific Arts and Nesmith.

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