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posted by LaminatorX on Wednesday March 05 2014, @09:16AM   Printer-friendly
from the justice-for-whom dept.

Fluffeh writes:

"Following up on our earlier story, the Justice Department has filed in the Supreme Court supporting Broadcasters in their case against Aereo the company that rents a small antenna for each customer, lets them record free to air TV, the streams it back to them anywhere.

The Justice Department argues that by doing so, they are allowing their customers to 'gain access to copyrighted content in the first instance, the same service that cable companies have traditionally provided.' but do so without paying broadcasters a license fee to do so. Aereo has argued that it isn't violating federal copyright laws and isn't threatening the future of the broadcast industry. Company executives have argued in public and in court filings that the service appeals to cord cutters and will help broadcasters keep those viewers."

 
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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Aighearach on Wednesday March 05 2014, @06:33PM

    by Aighearach (2621) on Wednesday March 05 2014, @06:33PM (#11446)

    However, you seem to be making a leap from that fact to what seems to be an assertion that, once you broadcast it, you lose any rights to control what someone who receives the content does with it.

    Is that a straw man, eating a red herring?

    Like he said, "It's clear that copyright prohibits one from reselling a work."

    So no, not only was there no "leap" to it, or assertion that it is so, you claim the exact opposite. The fact is that not reselling is all that copyright does. It doesn't allow any broad right to control "what someone who received the content does with it." Only republishing is controlled.

    And like he says, "Where my antenna is standing, and whether I own the antenna or only rent it, it is *my* antenna receiving a public broadcast that *I* can then view." Your claims of broad control would mean that if I buy a book, the copyright holder gets to decide when and where and if I can resell it. But that is not the case at all. Your example about recording a movie on TV starts with making an unauthorized copy. Then you try to create similarities with the case at hand. But that doesn't work, because whatever you add is unneeded. In the real case, the antenna is rented, and the rules are clear for over-the-air-broadcast; if it is your own antenna, you can record at play it back later. That is fair use.

    Your example is covered by past Supreme Court precedent where the court found that the a motel with a VHS machine for each room is still re-broadcasting movies, not playing home collections. This is very different in 2 obvious ways; 1, people are actually choosing what to record off their antenna; the business is not recording what they think they viewers will want, and then pointing at the antenna. The antenna is really being controlled by the actions of the antenna-renter. And second, over-the-air broadcasts have taken on additional restrictions because it is not their airwaves. They're leasing the airwaves from the People, through the Government.

    Also, you botched the bars issue. "Just because you can't stop me receiving the broadcast doesn't mean I can charge other for your content (which is why bars have to pay sports broadcasters ti show games on TV)." Bars have to pay to have permission to re-broadcast, NOT to charge others. If they charge a cover, or show it free, that makes no difference. If they have the permission to show it, then they can charge. Likewise, if the customer owns an antenna, and you're operating their TV infrastructure for them, you can charge anything you want. The right of the customer to that information is based on the legal requirement that the owner of the antenna can record and time-shift it. The broadcaster doesn't control any of the rest, how you pay for your TV, if your TV displays on a computer screen, or a big screen, or a wristwatch TV.

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