The Supreme Court ruled, today, June 25, that Aereo Inc. was violating the copyrights of broadcasters in providing its service.
Aereo had developed a technology to allow persons to watch over-the-air television broadcasts on their computers.
The broadcasters led by ABC said no fair.
The ruling, written by Stephen Breyer, was 6-3 with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joining him.
The dissent, written by Justice Antonin Scalia and joined by Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, was not so much in sympathy with Aereo but noted that the technical claim made by the networks in the lower courts — namely that Aereo was the primary abuser of copyright which means actually using copyrighted work — was incorrect.
They recommended that the case be returned to the lower courts and appeared to have an expectation that Aereo would be found in violation of “secondary liability” which means that they would be responsible for infringement by third parties.
The danger of ignoring the reasoning in the dissent means that it creates the possibility of new claims against internet service providers and such that previously had an expectation of immunity.
Supreme Court Ends Aereo Broadcasts