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The decision is limited to the question of whether Aereo violated the networks' "exclusive right" to "perform" their programs "publicly." The dissent (Scalia,
by motbob 12y ago
The decision is limited to the question of whether Aereo violated the networks' "exclusive right" to "perform" their programs "publicly."
The dissent (Scalia, Alido, and Thomas) believe that Aereo did not "perform" at all. They believe that when an Aereo subscriber logs in and clicks the play button, that the subscriber, not Aereo, is doing that performing.
EDIT: Please note that the dissent would not have necessarily ruled that Aereo's service was legal. The dissent merely believes that Aereo's service complies with this one specific part of the Copyright Act. From the dissent: "[Our] conclusion does not necessarily mean that Aereo's service complies with the Copyright Act. Quite the contrary. The Networks' complaint alleges that Aereo is directly and secondarily liable for infringing their public performance rights and also their reproduction rights."
So this decision is designed to be as tight as possible. The Court is trying to limit the effects of its decision by constraining it to this one claim by the networks. From the language of the dissent, I have a hunch that even if this one aspect of the case had been decided in Aereo's favor, that some other aspect would have resulted in its service being declared illegal.
Scalia: "I share the Court's evident feeling that what Aereo is doing (or enabling to be done) to the Networks' copyrighted programming ought not to be allowed."
- acjohnson55 12y agoI'm reading the opinion now, and I would not have guessed that those particular justices would have made the ruling they did. Does anybody have insight into how this decision fits with the ideological views of the justices?
- acheron 12y agoIt's almost as if the justices are actual people with complex sets of knowledge, opinions, and interpretations rather than just your stereotypes!
- berberous 12y agoWhile I generally agree, this opinion split down ideological lines and it also strikes me as curious.
- dworin 12y agoDid it? The majority opinion was joined by 2 of the 5 conservative justices and all of the liberal justices. Three conservative justices dissented based on their reading of the law, which didn't seem particularly ideological.
- rayiner 12y agoThe conservative Justices generally favor looking at the plain text of the statute, while the liberal Justices are more willing to look at the broader implications and view a situation in functional terms. So it's unsurprising that the liberal justices, and Chief Justice Roberts who is less textualist than the other conservatives, were willing to look past the technicality Aereo was relying on to see that it was functionally equivalent to any other television streaming service.