The content creators aren't compensated when you put rabbit ears on your TV either. They have to make their money sidechannel via advertising. Aereo provides mo

The content creators aren't compensated when you put rabbit ears on your TV either. They have to make their money sidechannel via advertising. Aereo provides more eyes for that advertising, so you really can't accurately say that the network isn't compensated. They're compensated the exact same way as any other OTA broadcast. There's one important thing you're not adequately accounting for that makes this situation difficult to analogize. The deal that gives broadcasters access to the airwaves also specifies that customers be able to freely tune into over-the-air programming. As they said in the article, there are a lot of people who don't even live in a place where they can access the digital broadcasts due to coverage issues. Many people in apartments are not allowed to install aerial antennas that might also allow them to access the OTA signals. Aereo helps provide such people with a cheaper way to access the content they are entitled to than cable. I think there's absolutely nothing wrong with what Aereo's doing. The elephant in the room is that if it gets ruled legal, the floodgates will be opened for cable companies to do the same, and the retransmission scheme will be in peril. My opinion is that Aereo shouldn't be punished for what these other companies might do.