Dish Wins Yet Again Over Networks Looking To Kill Off New Innovations With Questionable Copyright Claims
from the good-news dept
We've noted plenty of times how the legacy entertainment industry loves to attack every innovation it doesn't like with copyright claims, using them as a sort of whiner's veto on innovation. Too frequently, this strategy works. Thankfully, with Dish's AutoHopper, it's been a rather consistent failure. As you may recall, various TV networks sued Dish for its Autohop feature, which would automatically record all prime time shows to a DVR for people to watch later -- and, which then autoskipped the commercials, if you watched any day after the day it was recorded. So far, the lawsuits have not been going well, and that trend has continued with the latest tentative ruling in favor of Dish:Dish Network Corp.'s AutoHop service, which lets subscribers watch recorded primetime television programs with the advertisements taken out, doesn’t infringe Fox Broadcasting Co.’s copyrights, a federal judge said in a tentative decision.The judge noted that there may be a separate contractual issue, in that it's possible that Dish violated a contract with Fox, but that there isn't a copyright issue here. That's big, because it's yet another ruling that effectively ends the nonsensical argument that skipping commercials is somehow copyright infringement. The amount of legal gymnastics the TV networks had to go through to make that argument was fairly incredible, and it's good to see the courts aren't buying it.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: autohopper, copyright, innovation
Companies: dish, fox
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
10 years ago a 30 minute show had 5 minutes of commercials. That became 7 and now it's closing in on 10.
This is on cable television, which the whole point of was you paid and thus didn't see that crap.
They have had their cake and yours and eaten someone else's because they can.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
If you watch half hour shows, you actually get a little bit less as half hour shows are 22 minutes so only 16 minutes of commercials.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Catch 22?
Viewing (ad) content = copyright infringment.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
And yet...Aereo lost with some BS "walks like a duck" nonsense.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Advertiser Pressure
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Advertiser Pressure
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Or would the networks just threaten to end their contracts with Dish because of the Hopper?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]