Aereo to pay broadcasters $950,000
April 23, 2015
Aereo will pay CBS Corporation and other US broadcasters $950,000 to settle copyright claims of over $99 million.
The deal, backed by all of the broadcasters, will leave Aereo with $811,000 to pay non-broadcaster creditors with claims totalling $7.5 million.
CBS has claims against Aereo that total up to $27.8 million. Disney’s ABC and 21st Century Fox also have claims of $17.7 million and more than $26 million, respectively.
The failed digital television cloud service also filed its case at the federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan, alleging that CBS intentionally sabotaged its asset auction.
In court papers Aereo said that a third buyer was scared off by Disney’s comments that the assets might still infringe their copyright. But in February TiVo and RPX Corporation bought some of its patents and trademarks for a combined $1.25 million, a much lower figure than the anticipated $31.2 million it expected to raise for litigation costs.
A federal court judge is set to approve the settlement on May 7th.
Aereo filed for bankruptcy in November 2014 after the US Supreme Court ruled it had infringed other programming rights.