It comes as little surprise that Internet start-up Aereo Inc., which allows users to watch or record television programs online, drew the ire of broadcasters. A group of plaintiffs, including Fox Television Stations Inc., CBS Studios Inc. and the Public Broadcasting Service, sued Aereo for copyright infringement in the Southern District of New York and sought a preliminary injunction against the service, which is currently only available in metropolitan New York.
The district court denied the broadcasters’ request for a preliminary injunction, saying they were unlikely to succeed on the merits, considering the 2nd Circuit’s 2008 decision in Cartoon Network v. CSC Holdings Inc., or Cablevision, as it’s known. On April 1, the 2nd Circuit upheld the district court’s ruling 2-1 in WNET v. Aereo Inc.
