American Broadcasting Cos. v. Aereo, Inc.
134 S. Ct. 2498
| SCOTUS | 2014Background
- ABC petitioners own copyrights in televised programs streamed by Aereo, which offers a monthly Internet service to watch broadcasts as they air.
- Aereo uses a centralized warehouse of antennas, servers, and transcoders; a subscriber is allotted a personal antenna and a copy of the chosen program is stored before streaming to the subscriber.
- Aereo streams to subscribers with a slight delay, delivering contemporaneous images and sounds to individual users via the Internet.
- ABC alleges copyright infringement of the right to perform publicly and sought a preliminary injunction; the District Court denied, and the Second Circuit affirmed.
- The Supreme Court granted certiorari to decide whether Aereo “performs” under §106(4) and whether that performance is transmitted “to the public” under the Transmit Clause.
- The Court held that Aereo performs petitioners’ works publicly and reverses the Second Circuit, remanding for further proceedings.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether Aereo performs the works | ABC contends Aereo’s system performs publicly. | Aereo contends it merely provides equipment for users to perform themselves. | Aereo performs. |
| Whether Aereo’s performance is public under the Transmit Clause | ABC argues transmissions are to the public. | Aereo argues transmissions are private to each subscriber. | Public transmission under the Transmit Clause. |
| Whether Congress’ 1976 amendments and Fortnightly Teleprompter history support the result | ABC relies on congressional intent to bring cable-like activities within the Act. | Aereo argues differences preclude application to new tech and cautions against broad doctrine. | History supports treating Aereo as performing publicly. |
Key Cases Cited
- Fortnightly Corp. v. United Artists Television, Inc., 392 U. S. 390 (1968) (CATV as viewer, not performer; motivated statutory change)
- Teleprompter Corp. v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., 415 U. S. 394 (1974) (CATV as viewer; reception and rechanneling viewed as viewer function)
- Cartoon Network LP, LLLP v. CSC Holdings, Inc., 536 F.3d 121 (2d Cir. 2008) (delineates volitional conduct and service-provider liability framework)
- Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U. S. 417 (1984) (basis for fair use and general limits on liability; precedent on productive use of technology)
- Grokster, Ltd. v. MGM, 545 U. S. 913 (2005) (volitional conduct and secondary liability framework (contextual to tech liability))