By Jim Barthold, FierceCable, April 16, 2014
Aereo is going to have a hard time proving its right to exist when takes its case to the Supreme Court April 22, according to legal experts asked to handicap the proceedings. That's because, in addition to broadcasters who have from the start objected to the company's use of their free over-the-air signals, the U.S. Solicitor General and Copyright Offices also oppose Aereo.
"I think the majority of the court will be skeptical of Aereo's position and thus likely to rule in favor of the broadcast-petitioners," Pratik Shah, of the law firm Akin Gump told the Hollywood Reporter.
The case revolves around Aereo's right to pluck over-the-air broadcast signals and redistribute them to subscribers who pay $8 to $12 a month for an Internet service over TVs, PCs or connected mobile devices. The broadcaster argue that the content is copyrighted and that they should be paid fees similar to the retransmission fees they receive from pay TV operators in the cable, satellite and telco space.
So far, the broadcasters have been on the short end of that argument, losing in federal court in Manhattan and in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Their last gasp--and if they win, Aereo's last gasp--is now in the hands of an eight-member Supreme Court where Justice Samuel Alito has recused himself.
Continued:
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Barthold seems to have forgotten that the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for plaintiffs -- even though *he* wrote the article about it for FierceCable:
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Alito's decision to recuse leaves the Supreme Court with eight justices, and thus the possibility of a 4-4 decision. In such cases, the decision of the lower court usually stands. But in this case, lower courts have reached conflicting decisions:
- The First and Second Circuits ruled for Aereo.
- The Tenth Circuit rules for plaintiffs.
So now what will the Supremes do? Stay tuned.
Neal McLain