Tuesday, April 16, 2013

2nd Circuit affirms denial of plaintiffs' preliminary injunction motion in WNET v Aereo

In a rare interlocutory appeal, in WNET v. Aereo, Inc., the Second Circuit has affirmed the district court's denial of plaintiff broadcasters' motion for preliminary injunction, following its earlier ruling against the MPAA in Cartoon Networks v. CSC Holdings.

The 62 page decision (35 pages for main decision, 27 pages for dissenting opinion) concluded that Aereo's system for allowing individual users to record and replay broadcasts did not constitute a "public performance" and therefore did not implicate the "public performance" right.

Since the plaintiffs were unlikely to prevail on the merits, the Court held, they were not entitled to a preliminary injunction.

Opinion of US Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit

No comments: