broadcast TV

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to take up a case that could reshape the contours of copyright law: whether Aereo's streaming service violates the copyrights of broadcasters. It appears that an evenly divided court may hear the case since Justice Alito did not participate in the decision to grant certiorari: 011014zr_bp24.pdf

Another battlefront has opened up against Aereo's Internet TV service in Utah. Two broadcast TV affiliates are seeking a preliminary injunction against Aereo's service because the TV stations argue it "'engages in public performances for which it must obtain copyright licenses,'" the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

Aereo streams free broadcast TV programming through individualized antennas dedicated to each of its subscribers. A Second Circuit decision rejecting the argument that Aereo's service infringes copyright is on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

TechCrunch reports that Aereo, which could be a disruptor to the broadcast TV industry if its Internet streaming service of broadcast programming is found not to violate copyright law, wants to go to the U.S. Supreme Court too. Broadcasters are already seeking an appeal to the justices.

In a statement reported by Tech Crunch, the company says, "'The long-standing landmark Second Circuit decision in Cablevision has served as a crucial underpinning to the cloud computing and cloud storage industry. The broadcasters’ filing makes clear that they are using Aereo as a proxy to attack Cablevision itself. ... Consumers have the right to use an antenna to access the over-the-air television. It is a right that should be protected and preserved and in fact, has been protected for generations by Congress. "' Aereo was built specifically with Cablevision in mind, TechCrunch further reports.

According to Motley Fool, if Aereo wins in the U.S. Supreme Court, a victory won't just change the contours of copyright law but make the firm "a real lever for content distributors" to affect the market for retransmission fees for cable and satellite companies to carry broadcasters' content. "CBS would be the hardest hit because it commands the largest share of viewers," Gary Bourgeault writes.

On the other hand, broadcasters CBS and Fox are threatening a "reverse lever" by potentially changing to a cable model if the justices authorize the Aereo model of retransmitting broadcast TV programming over the Internet through individualized antennas, Borgeault also writes. That would mean Aereo would be cut out of the free broadcast content.

Sinclair Broadcast Group has agreed to buy eight TV stations from Allbritton Communications Co. for $985 million. But the Federal Communications Commission is questioning Sinclair's plan to use "sidecar companies" in order to purchase the TV stations and skirt the FCC rules "governing the number of stations a broadcaster can own in a particular market," The Wall Street Journal reports. The move by the regulator is "an unusual level of scrutiny for a tactic that has helped fuel broadcast-industry consolidation," The Journal also reports. Among other things, the FCC asked Sinclair to show its sidecar companies are "financially independent and aren't controlled by Sinclair," The Journal further reports.

Broadcasting & Cable reports that "studios and defenders of copyrights" are filing amicus briefs in support of broadcasters, who are challenging Aereo's Internet streaming service of broadcast TV programming as a violation of their copyrights. However, Aereo does not yet have any amicus supporters in the U.S. Supreme Court, although Aereo's counsel pointed out to Broadcasting & Cable "that the court’s 30-day extension on Aereo’s response to broadcasters’ request that the High Court hear the case meant supporting briefs were also delayed 30 days—until Dec. 12."

For example, Time Warner argued to the U.S. Supreme Court that “'no reasonable company would have deployed Aereo’s armada of mini-antennae but for the desire to end-run the public performance right,'" according to Broadcasting & Cable.

FilmOn X was not able to use a Boston-area federal judge's ruling that FilmOn X's competitor, Aereo, is not violating copyright law by streaming broadcast TV programming on its on-line service to get relief from a nationwide temporary restraining order blocking FilmOn X's similar streaming service everywhere in the United States except in the Second Circuit, TheWrap reported. District Court Judge Rosemary M. Collyer Collyer "on Monday several times called FilmOn and FilmOn X founder Alki David, 'uncouth' during the hearing, but elected to fine FilmOn X only if the company tries to offer additional local stations," TheWrap also reported.

The NFL and the Major Baseball League recently argued in the U.S. Supreme Court that sports programming could shift from free broadcast TV to pay platforms if Aereo's Internet streaming service isn't stopped. But Barry Diller, a major investor in Aereo, is skeptical. Mediabistro reports Diller as commenting: '“The chances of the NFL going off broadcast television, this is ‘the Super Bowl is not going to be on free broadcast television.’ I want to see that happen. They’re just making noise.”'

Diller also said he thinks the chances of the Supreme Court granting certiorari in the case against Aereo is 50/50.

Major League Baseball and the National Football League are arguing in an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court that Aereo's steaming service of free broadcast TV could drive sports television away from free broadcast TV onto platforms that consumers have to pay for, Broadcasting & Cable reports.

"'If copyright holders lose their exclusive retransmission licensing rights and the substantial benefits derived from those rights when they place programming on broadcast stations, those stations will become less attractive mediums for distributing copyrighted content. The option for copyright holders will be to move that content to paid cable networks (such as ESPN and TNT) where Aereo-like services cannot hijack and exploit their programming without authorization,'" the sports leagues argued according to B&C.

Broadcasters argue that Aereo's service violates their copyrights in their programming.

Ars Technica reports on the leak of draft language of a proposed free trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, between the United States and several other countries, including Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, Mexico, and Canada.

The draft's proposals include:

* imposing limitations on retransmissions of television signals on the Internet without the authorization of copyright holders (Aereo and its rival FilmOn X say their streaming services don't violate copyright law because they use individual antennas for each customer to retransmit free broadcast TV on-line);

* extending copyright law in other countries to last for the life of the author plus 70 years;

* and a six-strikes regime "that could ultimately lead to customers suspected of copyright piracy being kicked off their ISP."