Broadcasters contend that internet television services such as ivi are required to pay retransmission consent fees when passing along their signals, and had that affirmed at the circuit court level. And there it will stand, as the Supreme Court decides not to entertain an appeal.
The service was designed to provide a suite of channels to subscribers via the internet, and felt it was justified in using local broadcast channels free of charge.
The Second Circuit disagreed, and now, in turning down the case, the Supreme Court has effectively supported the decision of the Second Cicuit.
NAB’s Dennis Wharton stated, “NAB is pleased the Supreme Court refused to review the finding that ivi’s unauthorized retransmission of TV programming over the Internet without the permission of content owners is illegal.”
