Since its founding in 2012, Aereo has been a thorn in the side of traditional television broadcasters. On Tuesday, a federal judge declined a request for an injunction stopping the company's services in Boston.
Aereo uses thousands of tiny antennas to capture over-the-air broadcasts that are then retransmitted to customers over the Internet. TV stations have consistently argued that this amounts to thievery of their content.
Unfortunately for the stations, Aereo has consistently been victorious in the courts. Back in July 2013, a coalition of New York broadcasters’ request to have their case heard before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals was denied.
Hearst Stations, which owns the ABC affiliate WCVB-TV in Boston, had argued in its July 2013 filing that Aereo’s business model relies on infringing upon “WCVB’s exclusive right to transmit its works in public,” and therefore constitutes copyright infringement.
In a 20-page memorandum and order (PDF), Judge Nathaniel Gorton found that Aereo’s business model is actually more akin to a DVR. He specifically cited the 2008 Cablevision remote DVR case, as well as the original Second Circuit ruling earlier this year.
"After considering the relevant factors, the Court finds that a preliminary injunction is unwarranted," wrote Judge Gorton. "Hearst has not demonstrated a sufficient likelihood of success on the merits nor the requisite irreparable harm and therefore it is not entitled to that 'extraordinary and drastic remedy.'"
These cases don’t appear to be going away anytime soon. A group of Utah broadcasters filed a related suit against Aereo on Monday. For its part, Aereo is continuing full steam ahead; the firm just launched its new Android app on Thursday.
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