The U.S. Supreme Court, after ducking the question once earlier, has finally agreed to hear an appeal filed by four major broadcasters against an online television service provider Aereo Inc. which has been accused of stealing copyright TV contents.
In April, ABC network, CBS Broadcasting Inc, NBCUniversal and Twenty-First Century Fox requested the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to shut Aereo down but their request was later denied by the court.
Aereo Inc., backed by Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp, provides users a miniature antenna that enables them to stream live broadcasts of TV channels on mobile devices. In return, the company charges a low monthly fee to its users but does not pay anything to the broadcasters.
In the filed appeal, broadcasters have claimed that the Aereo service infringes copyrights and ultimately is a threat to their subscription business model and advertising revenues.
On Friday, CBS issued a statement saying Aereo's business model was based on the contents created by others and they considered it stealing. "We believe that Aereo's business model, and similar offerings that operate on the same principle, are built on stealing the creative content of others," read the statement. "We are pleased that our case will be heard and we look forward to having our day in court."
Aereo has countered the allegations saying it was consumers' right to use an antenna to record the contents from broadcasters. "We believe that consumers have a right to use an antenna to access over-the-air television and to make personal recordings of those broadcasts," Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia said in a statement. "The broadcasters are asking the Court to deny consumers the ability to use the cloud to access a more modern-day television antenna and DVR. If the broadcasters succeed, the consequences to consumers and the cloud industry are chilling."
"We said from the beginning that it was our hope that this case would be decided on the merits and not through a wasteful war of attrition. We look forward to presenting our case to the Supreme Court and we have every confidence that the court will validate and preserve a consumer's right to access local over-the-air television with an individual antenna, make a personal recording with a DVR, and watch that recording on a device of their choice," Kanojia added.
The projected revenue that broadcasters are going to reap from fees paid by satellite and cable companies is going to reach $4.29 billion this year. Given the potential earnings, the Internet startup certainly posses a threat to the economic viability of broadcasters' businesses.
The case is American Broadcasting Companies Inc, et al, v. Aereo Inc, U.S. Supreme Court, 13-461.
