amicus brief

Public Knowledge Defends TV Viewers and Fair Use in the 9th Circuit

January 24, 2013

Issues: 
Copyright

Background: Today, Public Knowledge, joined by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Organization for Transformative Works, filed an amicus brief in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Fox v. DISH Network, arguing that DISH does not infringe copyright by selling its Hopper digital video recorder (DVR), which allows viewers to skip past commercials on recorded programming, and that viewers do not infringe copyright when they use it.

The following statement may be attributed to John Bergmayer, Senior Staff Attorney at Public Knowledge.

PK EFF OTW 9th Circuit DISH Hopper Brief

January, 24, 2013

Public Knowledge Files Amicus Brief Supporting Meltwater

January 18, 2013

Today, Public Knowledge and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, with legal assistance from Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society, filed a friend of the court brief supporting Meltwater, a news clipping service that is being sued for copyright infringement by the Associated Press. Meltwater sent its clients links, headlines, and initial sentences of news stories that covered topics the clients had requested. Despite the partial and factual use of the news stories, the Associated Press argued that these snippets were not fair use.

The following can be attributed to Sherwin Siy, Vice President of Legal Affairs for Public Knowledge:

PK Amicus Brief Supporting Data Roaming Rules

December 04, 2012

Public Knowledge's amicus brief supporting the FCC's data roaming rules. This document is available as a pdf.

Joint Intervenors Brief in Open Internet Litigation

November 16, 2012

This is the joint brief of intervenors in Verizon v. FCC. This file is available as a pdf.

Public Knowledge Stands Up For Viewers' Right To Watch Free TV

October 26, 2012

Issues: 
AllVid

Today, Public Knowledge filed an amicus brief defending Aereo in a lawsuit brought by several major broadcasters. Joined by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Consumer Electronics Association, the brief argues that the Aereo service, which makes it easier for consumers to watch free over-the-air TV, is perfectly legal.

The following statement can be attributed to John Bergmayer, Senior Staff Attorney at Public Knowledge:

"Consumers do not need permission to watch free TV. Just as viewers are allowed to use rabbit ears to receive over the air broadcasts, they're allowed to make use of Aereo's remote antenna service.

Public Knowledge Urges Court to Protect Home Recording

By Eric Null  | September 18, 2012

Public Knowledge filed an amicus brief with the Central District of California today in Fox v. Dish, a case that could threaten how consumers record and view programming in the privacy of their home. While this case is only in the preliminary injunction stage, these pre-trial stages have become increasingly important in copyright cases. Consequently, this case has the potential to upend long-standing fair use principles.

The case involves DISH’s “Hopper,” one of DISH’s set-top boxes. The Hopper can be set (by the customer) to record prime-time television on any of the four major broadcast channels. For some programming, the Hopper gives viewers the option to play back the programming without commercials beginning the following day.



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Public Knowledge filed an amicus brief with the Central District of California today in Fox v. Dish, a case that could threaten how consumers record and view programming in the privacy of their home. While this case is only in the preliminary injunction stage, these pre-trial stages have become increasingly important in copyright cases. Consequently, this case has the potential to upend long-standing fair use principles.

The case involves DISH’s “Hopper,” one of DISH’s set-top boxes. The Hopper can be set (by the customer) to record prime-time television on any of the four major broadcast channels. For some programming, the Hopper gives viewers the option to play back the programming without commercials beginning the following day.
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Public Knowledge filed an amicus brief with the Central District of California today in Fox v. Dish, a case that could threaten how consumers record and view programming in the privacy of their home. While this case is only in the preliminary injunction stage, these pre-trial stages have become increasingly important in copyright cases. Consequently, this case has the potential to upend long-standing fair use principles.

The case involves DISH’s “Hopper,” one of DISH’s set-top boxes. The Hopper can be set (by the customer) to record prime-time television on any of the four major broadcast channels. For some programming, the Hopper gives viewers the option to play back the programming without commercials beginning the following day.
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Public Knowledge filed an amicus brief with the Central District of California today in Fox v. Dish, a case that could threaten how consumers record and view programming in the privacy of their home. While this case is only in the preliminary injunction stage, these pre-trial stages have become increasingly important in copyright cases. Consequently, this case has the potential to upend long-standing fair use principles.

The case involves DISH’s “Hopper,” one of DISH’s set-top boxes. The Hopper can be set (by the customer) to record prime-time television on any of the four major broadcast channels. For some programming, the Hopper gives viewers the option to play back the programming without commercials beginning the following day.
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Public Knowledge Stands Up for Viewers' Right to Control How They Watch TV

September 18, 2012

Issues: 
Copyright

Today, Public Knowledge filed an amicus brief in Fox Broadcasting v. DISH. In this case, Fox sued DISH over Hopper, a device that allows consumers to record programming and play it back later commercial-free, claiming that this constitutes copyright infringement. Public Knowledge decided to participate in this case to protect the home recording and fair use rights of television viewers.

The brief is linked here.

The following statement can be attributed to John Bergmayer, Senior Staff Attorney for Public Knowledge:

PK and EFF Amicus Brief in Flava Works v. Gunter

August 02, 2012
Issues: 
Copyright

Amicus brief filed by EFF and PK in the 7th Circuit case of Flava Works v. Gunter. This document is available as a pdf.

Amicus Brief on Program Carriage; TWC and NCTA v. FCC

July 27, 2012