Boston’s WCVB Sues Aereo for Copyright Infringement

By Kevin Eck 

WCVB, the Hearst owned Boston ABC affiliate, has joined the ranks of broadcasters suing online television startup Aereo.

In a complaint filed yesterday in the US District Court, District of Massachusetts, Hearst and WCVB claim, “Aereo has no right,under any license or statute, to retransmit WCVB’s copyrighted programming.”

The complaint spells out that Aereo intercepts WCVB’s signal “through the use of commercial antenna farms” and re sells the signal to subscribers. “Aereo’s service undermines the purposes served by the Copyright Act by exposing copyright owners such as WCVB to free-riders such as Aereo.”

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Aereo is currently being sued by a group of 17 broadcasters including ABC, CBS, NBC Universal, Disney and Warner Brothers. Aereo has announced plans to expand to Atlanta and Boston among other cities.

[Bloomberg Businessweek]

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