Television Broadcasters Prevail In Dispute Over Disruptive Content Distribution Technology

On June 25, 2014, the Supreme Court issued an important decision for the television industry, ruling that storage and delivery service Aereo violates the Copyright Act when it captures over-the-air broadcasts and then retransmits unique copies to subscribers via individual, dime-sized antennas. Cognizant that the decision was closely watched and could impact developing technologies, the Court issued a narrow opinion stating that "we do not believe that our limited holding" will "discourage . . . the emergence or use of different kinds of technologies." ABC, Inc. et al. v. Aereo, Inc.  Slip op. at 16.

The case pitted upstart Aereo against broadcasters ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and others. In the proceedings below, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied the broadcasters' request for a preliminary injunction against Aereo, holding there was no public performance because the potential audience for each Aereo transmission was a single subscriber who requested