{
  "id": "R43359",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R43359",
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  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
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      "id": 450909,
      "date": "2015-01-22",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-06T22:49:08.218473",
      "title": "Aereo and FilmOn X: Internet Television Streaming and Copyright Law",
      "summary": "Aereo and FilmOn X were created to stream television programming over the Internet for a monthly subscription fee. Aereo and FilmOn\u2019s technology permitted subscribers to watch both live broadcast television in addition to already-aired programming. Their use of this development in technology triggered multiple lawsuits from broadcasting companies alleging copyright violations. These cases revealed not only multiple interpretations of copyright law and its application to new and developing technologies, but also a possible \u201cloophole\u201d in the law, which some accused Aereo and FilmOn of exploiting. \nThe Copyright Act of 1976 provides copyright holders with the exclusive right to control how certain creative content is publicly performed. Of particular interest to courts in recent cases against Aereo and FilmOn was the meaning of the Copyright Act\u2019s \u201ctransmit clause\u201d that determines whether a performance is private or public and within the scope of the public performance right. Specifically, the courts have been divided as to what constitutes a \u201cperformance to members of the public\u201d for the purposes of the transmit clause. \nDuring the past several years, groups of broadcasters have filed lawsuits against Aereo and FilmOn alleging that the retransmissions of their programs by these companies have violated their right of public performance. While both FilmOn and Aereo use similar technology, the courts have disagreed about whether this technology infringes upon the copyright holder\u2019s right of public performance. District courts in the District of Columbia (Fox Television Stations v. FilmOn X) and California (Fox Television Stations v. BarryDriller Content Systems) held that FilmOn\u2019s retransmissions did violate the right of public performance. In 2013, the U.S Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in WNET v. Aereo affirmed the lower court decision ruling that the transmissions by Aereo did not infringe the plaintiffs\u2019 public performance right. However, the U.S. Supreme Court in its 2014 decision in ABC v. Aereo overturned the Second Circuit\u2019s ruling and held that Aereo\u2019s transmissions served as a public performance of the plaintiffs\u2019 works within the meaning of the transmit clause, violating the plaintiffs\u2019 exclusive rights to control such performances. A few months after the Supreme Court ruling, Aereo, having already suspended its service, filed for bankruptcy. \nContemporaneous to these decisions, two bills in the 113th Congress addressed issues related to Internet television streaming. These bills, the Television Consumer Freedom Act of 2013 (S. 912) and the Consumer Choice in Online Video Act (S. 1680), would have enhanced consumer choice regarding online television programming, a service marketed by both Aereo and FilmOn. As of the date of this report, it remains to be seen whether these or similar bills will be introduced in the 114th Congress.",
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    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc284471/",
      "id": "R43359_2014Mar20",
      "date": "2014-03-20",
      "retrieved": "2014-05-06T21:21:54",
      "title": "Aereo and FilmOn X: Internet Television Streaming and Copyright Law",
      "summary": "This report begins with a discussion of the technology used by Aereo and FilmOn X that permit subscribers to watch live broadcast television as well as already-aired programming. It then examines the public performance right in the Copyright Act and discusses the interpretation of the transmit clause and public performance right by the courts in the Aereo and FilmOn cases. The report concludes with a brief overview of future litigation by these parties and related legislative proposals in the 113th Congress.",
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          "id": "Internet",
          "name": "Internet"
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          "id": "Technology",
          "name": "Technology"
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          "name": "Internet service providers"
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          "id": "Television",
          "name": "Television"
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          "id": "copyright transmit clause",
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      "id": "R43359_2014Jan13",
      "date": "2014-01-13",
      "retrieved": "2014-05-06T21:21:54",
      "title": "Aereo and FilmOn X: Internet Television Streaming and Copyright Law",
      "summary": "This report begins with a discussion of the technology used by Aereo and FilmOn X that permit subscribers to watch live broadcast television as well as already-aired programming. It then examines the public performance right in the Copyright Act and discusses the interpretation of the transmit clause and public performance right by the courts in the Aereo and FilmOn cases. The report concludes with a brief overview of future litigation by these parties and related legislative proposals in the 113th Congress.",
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          "id": "Internet",
          "name": "Internet"
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          "id": "Technology",
          "name": "Technology"
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          "id": "Internet service providers",
          "name": "Internet service providers"
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          "id": "Television",
          "name": "Television"
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          "id": "copyright transmit clause",
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