The U.S. Copyright Office doesn’t believe Aereo and...
The U.S. Copyright Office doesn’t believe Aereo and other services based on Internet retransmission of broadcast TV are eligible to receive compulsory copyright licenses, the office told the company in a letter Wednesday. Aereo has argued in U.S. District Court…
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in New York that the majority opinion in its recent Supreme Court loss means it should be treated as a cable system, and be eligible for the same copyright license such systems use (CD July 11 p10). The office said Aereo recently filed with it to receive such a license. The portion of the Copyright Act that authorizes such licenses- -- Section 111 -- encompasses only retransmission services “regulated as cable systems by the FCC,” the Copyright Office said. “We do not see anything in the Supreme Court’s recent decision … that would alter this conclusion.” The office accepted Aereo’s filings on a provisional basis, because the matter is still open in court, but they could be subsequently rejected “depending on further regulatory or judicial developments,” the letter said. Aereo wouldn’t comment.