A judge in the U.S. District Court, Los Angeles, on...
A judge in the U.S. District Court, Los Angeles, on Wednesday denied a preliminary injunction request from Fox Entertainment urging the court to bar Dish Network’s ad-skipping features, PrimeTime Anytime and AutoHop. A copy of the ruling isn’t available to…
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the public “because the court is first giving the parties an opportunity to redact confidential trade information,” Dish said in a press release (http://xrl.us/bnyot4). Fox sought the preliminary injunction in August (CD Aug 28 p5). Dish said Judge Dolly Gee found it likely that Dish customers using PrimeTime Anytime “cannot be liable for copyright infringement,” and that the AutoHop and PrimeTime Anytime features do not constitute “unauthorized distribution under federal copyright laws.” The ruling underscores the Supreme Court’s 1984 Betamax decision, “with the court confirming a consumer’s right to enjoy television as they want, when they want, including the reasonable right to skip commercials, if they so choose,” Dish said. Fox is “gratified the court found the copies Dish makes for its AutoHop service constitute copyright infringement and breach the parties’ contract,” Fox said in a statement. Fox said it intends to appeal the court’s decision that Fox’s damages weren’t suitable for a preliminary injunction, as well as the court’s separate findings concerning PrimeTime Anytime.