Public Knowledge Boosts Backing of Aereo TV

Plans to file second court brief backing service

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/25/2012 10:38:10 AM

Public Knowledge plans to file another brief supporting Aereo TV in the lawsuit brought by broadcasters against what Aereo says is providing remote -- via Internet -- access to over-the-air TV antennas and broadcasters say is retransmitting their signals and content without compensation.

Public Knowledge signaled that filing in an email to its supporters Thursday.

"This Friday [Oct. 26], we're filing (another) 'friend of the court' brief in the Aereo case. Using modern equipment to receive broadcast TV is not against the law," the group said.

In a May filing with the New York U.S. District Court hearing the challenge, Public Knowledge and the Electronic Frontier Foundation argued that Aereo's delivery of TV station signals over the Internet is a private, one-to-one transmission, not a public performance subject to exclusive copyright, similar to the remote DVR functionality that a federal appeals court upheld in the Cartoon Network vs. Cablevision case.

In that filing, Public Knowledge was opposing broadcasters' request for a preliminary injunction to close down the service while the court considered the suit.

The judge ultimately denied that injunction, agreeing with Public Knowledge that Aereo was essentially analogous to Cablevision's remote DVR, which the Second Circuit court of appeals concluded did not violate copyright protections.