Supreme Court to Hear Case of Online Redistribution of Television Programming
Huge copyright impacts
The Supreme Court today agreed to weigh into a legal thicket that, at the end of the day, will shape the manner and method by which people watch broadcast television.
The justices decided to hear a controversy over a 2-year-old upstart called Aereo. Using thousands of dime-sized antennas, it retransmits over-the-air broadcast television to paying consumers, who are able to watch live television online without the consent of NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, Fox and other broadcasters who brought a lawsuit in 2012.
Broadcasters claimed the redistribution of the material, without a license, infringes their copyrights because it amounts to Aereo briefly buffering or copying the broadcast and "facilitating" a public performance without permission.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?