The battle between Aereo and television broadcasters is slated to be settled by the highest court in the land.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday afternoon announced that it will hear eight new cases, included among them is ABC, Inc., et al. v. Aereo, Inc.
Aereo's chief executive, Chet Kanojia, said in a press release that he hoped a decision from the court would put an end to the ongoing legal battle between Aereo and broadcasters.
“We said from the beginning that it was our hope that this case would be decided on the merits and not through a wasteful war of attrition," Kanojia said. "We look forward to presenting our case to the Supreme Court and we have every confidence that the Court will validate and preserve a consumer's right to access local over-the-air television with an individual antenna, make a personal recording with a DVR, and watch that recording on a device of their choice."
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Broadcasters have filed numerous petitions to shut down Aereo, claiming that the streaming of television content violates copyright laws. News Corporation has threatened to make Fox a subscription channel if Aereo continues to operate.
The frustration over Aereo has also extended to Major League Baseball and the National Football League, which have said they may have to move on from broadcast channels if the company continues to stream its games.
The case could have major ramifications for the media industry, particularly for the cloud computing industry and also the future of copyright law. However, it is too early to speculate as to exactly what a ruling will mean, as analysts will have to wait to see the exact question the Court is considering, said Harry Cole, a lawyer and member at Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth.
But the fact that the Court is hearing the case at all is a major step, he added.
"Someobdy's got the court's attention up there," he said.
Cole said the case will revolve at least in part on a 2008 decision Cartoon Network v. CSC Holdings, 536 F.3d 121 (2008), which rules that Cablevision's remote DVR service did not break copyright law. Aereo's legality is considered to hinge on that interpretation of streaming and recordable media.
"If Cablevision is good law, Aereo's argument is then Aereo wins," Cole said. "But if Cablevision isn't good law, Aereo's got a big problem."
The news comes just a couple days after Aereo raised a third round of funding that brought in $34 million.
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