The United States Copyright Office does not consider Aereo a cable system under the terms of copyright law.
US copyright officials told the company, which was seeking a license to operate like a cable system after a recent Supreme Court defeat, through a letter delivered on Wednesday.
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“In the view of the Copyright Office, internet retransmissions of broadcast television fall outside the scope of the Section 111 license,” the letter reads. “We do not see anything in the Supreme Court’s recent decision … that would alter this conclusion.”
The Copyright Office will not immediately refuse Aereo’s filings, however. Since the company’s case has been raised in court, the office will instead accept them on a provisional basis.
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The Supreme Court ruled in June that Aereo violated the broadcast networks’ copyrights, so the antenna service argued to a U.S. District Court in New York earlier this month that it’s “entitled to the benefits of the copyright statutory license pursuant to the Copyright Act.”
Aereo operations have been on “pause” since 6 out of 9 Supreme Court justices ruled the service that gives users access to broadcast television without paying for cable infringes upon broadcaster’s exclusive right to’perform the copyright work publicly.
While founder and CEO Chet Kanojia has said the company’s “work is not done,” investor Barry Diller has said otherwise.
“We did try, but it’s over now,” Diller said in June.