Legal Issues: The Supreme Court Looks at Broadcasting and the Cloud

Abstract

Potentially more interesting is a case scheduled for oral argument in April that could have a significant impact on the development of technologies for streaming over-the-air broadcast media content and rethinking what it means to “perform” a work as it is defined by the Copyright Act. The case is American Broadcasting Company, et.al., vs. Aereo, Inc., (available online at www.supremecourt.gov, search for “aereo”) and involves the start-up technology company Aereo, Inc., and ABC, CBS, NBC and a number of other television studios and networks. These companies broadcast television content over airwaves that are considered public property. Any consumer with the proper TV antenna can capture the content and watch it at no cost in the comfort of their own home. The “public airwaves”, along with the Copyright Act make it clear that such private use is not an infringement of copyright and is legal.