Further court defeat for FilmOn
February 17, 2016
By Colin Mann
The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan has rejected FilmOn.com Inc.’s claims that a judge abused his discretion by holding the company in contempt and penalising it $90,000. The company also was ordered to pay more than $100,000 in legal fees.
The court upheld a judge’s contempt ruling that FilmOn continued streaming TV shows over the Internet after the Supreme Court outlawed the system used to do it by outlawing Aereo’s operation.
FilmOn had argued that it was operating in the same way as a cable television company as it allowed subscribers to use computers to stream television stations over the Internet.
The 2nd Circuit found FilmOn’s arguments that the high court ruling “destroyed the state of clarity” surrounding broadcasters’ copyrights and “created confusion,” to be “unpersuasive”, suggesting that the Supreme Court ruling “explicitly slammed shut” the possibility FilmOn could continue deploying its system.
FilmOn had been sued by various broadcasters, including CBS Broadcasting, NBC Studios, Universal Network Television, Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Television Stations, Disney Enterprises, NBC Studios, American Broadcasting, Big Ticket Television and Open 4 Business Productions.