The Supreme Court’s recent decision in the closely watched ABC v. Aereo held that Aereo’s service violated the public performance right under the Copyright Act, effectively killing Aereo. The Court was, however, careful to restrain the reach of its holding, leaving many issues as to different technologies unanswered. Please join us for a panel discussion to consider the implications of the Aereo decision, including:
- The Court applies the public performance right toAereo, based not on the activity of the defendant, but on whether it is the “functional equivalent” of a regulated enterprise or has a similar “commercial objective.” How will this functional equivalence approach be applied to other parties and other rights?
- Does the volitional act doctrine surviveAereo, and if so, when?
- Is the public performance holding of Cartoon Networks still good law?
- What are the implications of Aereo for cloud computing services that impact the distribution of copyrighted works?
- What about other new technologies that provide video service without authorization from copyright holders?
- Will Aereo discourage “innovation”; what does that mean; and is that a good or bad thing?