Utah District Court Issues First Preliminary Injunction Against Aereo

In a marked turn of events for Aereo, the disruptive provider of dime-size antennae over-the-air rebroadcast services, on February 19, 2014, the Utah federal District Court (Judge Dale Kimball) became the first court to issue a preliminary injunction against Aereo, finding that it infringed the plaintiff broadcasters' public performance copyrights in the transmissions of their broadcasts under the Copyright Act's Transmit Clause. The court barred Aereo from operating within the Tenth Circuit, which covers the states of Utah, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wyoming. The case, which consolidates two separately filed actions in Utah by different sets of broadcasters, is Community Television Of Utah, LLC v. Aereo, Inc., No. 2:13CV910DAK. A copy of the decision can be accessed here: Aereo Utah.pdf.