The Supreme Court has rejected FilmOn X’s request to join the Aereo case. FilmOn X, a service similar to Aereo, had hoped to intervene to support its main competition.
FilmOn had tried to convince the Court that its situation was not unlike Aereo, which the major broadcasters argue violates copyright laws. According to TheWrap, FilmOn said that any decision for or against Aereo would have an impact on how it does business. Although its own legal fights have elements not covered by Aereo’s case, the company believed that the Aereo case would still cover its own fight.
“At this time FilmOn X is without an appellate remedy [and] is forced to rely on Aereo—a business competitor with economic incentive to leave the injunctions against FilmOn X undisturbed—to represent FilmOn X’s interests before this court,” FilmOn said in its court filing.
However, on Monday, the Court said that FilmOn cannot participate in oral arguments and in the written briefing, reports Reuters.
Aereo is supported by Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp., while FilmOn was founded by entrepreneur Alki David. Both are services that take free over-the-air content and stream them on the Internet at a much cheaper price than traditional TV providers. The networks - ABC, Fox, NBC and CBS - have all argued that this violates copyrights as Aereo and FilmOn do not pay the same licensing fees. Aereo also offers a DVR service.
The Supreme Court will begin oral arguments on April 22.
image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
