Customers who wanted to use the showcase facilities selected a film from a catalogue and the fee charged depended on the number of people in a viewing booth and the time of day.

It argued that the exhibition or showing of the video cassettes in private booths constituted an unauthorized public performance.

[1] Maxwell's legally obtained the video copies either from Columbia Pictures Industries or their authorized distributors.

The court concluded that playing a video cassette clearly resulted in a showing of a motion picture's images and in making the sounds accompanying it audible, which was what to perform a work meant.

[1][2] The court also concluded the performance was made in public, though the viewers were in their small booths in Maxwell's facilities.

This was because Maxwell's always maintained the ownership of the videotapes and the fees paid by patrons were for showcasing operation, but not for the physical dominion over the tapes.

[8] At present, this case has received considerable attention within the motion picture industry and DVD streaming websites.

During October 2011, Zediva took down their DVD streaming service and agreed to pay $1.8 million to the Motion Picture Association.

[9] Zediva argued that it serves a similar function as rental stores like Blockbuster who don't need a licensing agreement to rent movies.

The Motion Picture Association contended that this type of streaming was illegal and in violation of copyright law.

In August 2011, the U.S. District court Judge John Walter ordered a preliminary injunction against Zediva, shutting down their service.