Tenth Circuit Court Will Consider Motion To Block Aereo

A Utah District Court has agreed to hear Fox's request for a preliminary injunction against Aereo.

"We have always maintained that Aereo is operating illegally and has no right to retransmit our copyrighted material," Fox said in a statement. "We are hopeful that Aereo will be enjoined from operating in the six states covered by the 10th Circuit while this case is pending before the United States Supreme Court." 

The Supreme Court has agreed to rule on a Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision not to enjoin Aereo from delivering TV station signals over the Internet without paying a copyright fee.

Fox says Aereo is retransmitting a performance without permission, in violation of copyright. Aereo says it is not transmitting a performance, but is simply providing the technology for users to remotely access the free TV signals and recording functionality to which they are legally entitled.

So far, the Second Circuit is the only federal appeals court to weigh in on Aereo, suggesting it is not delivering a performance.

According to Fox, the court, whose rulings apply in Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah, said Friday it would hear Fox's motion Feb. 11.

The Supreme Court likely won't hear the case until late April, and won't weigh in until July.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.