Public Knowledge Seeks Appeals Court Review of FilmOn Injunction

Labeling FilmOn an "antenna rental service," Public Knowledge has filed a friend of the court (amicus) brief asking the Federal D.C. Court of Appeals to reconsider a D.C. District court decision to block the service.

Like Aereo, whose various broadcaster court challenges have been appealed to the Supreme Court, FilmOn uses remote antennas to deliver TV station programming over the Internet. And like Aereo, FilmOn argues it is not providing a public performance requiring copyright payments, but instead is providing access to individual antennas collecting the free TV signals users are entitled to. Public Knowledge says such services are "likely legal" (Public Knowledge also filed amici briefs in support of Aereo in its various court battles with broadcasters), but it is more concerned in this instance with the standard the district court used in issuing a preliminary injunction, which it says was misapplied and, if left standing, could discourage technological innovation. "The court misapplied the preliminary injunction standard, invoking categorical presumptions forbidden by Supreme Court precedent and factual assumptions that, if affirmed, could create a systematic bias against emerging technologies, suppressing investment and vital risk-taking," Public Knowledge told the appeals court. Regardless of the outcome of this case, this Court should disavow these errors..." Public Knowledge says the court erred in presuming that the public interest in copyright protection is always served by granting injunctions, and argues that the public's interest in promoting broadcast reception would actually be harmed by an injunction -- broadcasters argue it is just the opposite.