US networks target ‘illegal’ TV streaming service
US broadcasters have filed a lawsuit against a streaming service that retransmits broadcast TV content over the internet.
The complaint was filed yesterday July 31 at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, by networks including Disney, 20th Century Fox, CBS, Fox Television and NBC against the operators of streaming service Locast.
The networks said that while their content is broadcast to the public for free over-the-air viewing, most households in the US access the content through cable, satellite, broadband and mobile providers.
They said these providers must have a licence to retransmit the copyrighted content.
But, according to the complaint, Locast captures the over-the-air broadcast signals, strips critical data from those signals and then retransmits them and the copyrighted content they carry to users over the internet.
The complaint said that unlike licensed cable, satellite and streaming services, Locast does not obtain consent to do this nor does it pay for a licence.
“Locast simple takes copyrighted content and retransmits it to users at will over the internet,”
the filing said.
According to Locast’s website, it launched its service in New York City to extend the “reach of broadcast signals throughout” the area, “including to places where tall buildings or other obstructions might interfere with over-the-air reception”.
Allegedly, Locast contends that under an exemption in the US 1976 Copyright Act, it has the right to boost a local broadcast signal to those who cannot receive it as long as it does not gain a direct or indirect commercial advantage.
But, the networks said, “Locast is nothing like the local booster services contemplated by Congress in creating this narrow exemption”.
“Locast is not a public service devoted to viewers whose reception is affected by tall buildings. Nor is Locast acting for the benefit of consumers who, according to Locast when promoting its purportedly free service, pay too much. Locast is not the Robin Hood of television; instead, Locast’s founding, funding, and operations reveal its decidedly commercial purposes,” the filing said.
The networks also alleged that Locast not only operates in New York city, but also in other cities such as Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Boston, Washington, DC and San Francisco.
Additionally, the networks said Locast, which was founded by a former executive of TV network provider Dish, is able to operate because of a “sizeable loan” from a company owned by another former Dish executive vice president. Additionally, it also received $500,000 from telecoms company AT&T.
“Locast provides these two major distributors with commercial benefits that include the ability to avoid obtaining retransmission consent from local stations,” the complaint added.
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