Streaming TV service Aereo shouldn’t be allowed to...
Streaming TV service Aereo shouldn’t be allowed to file an amicus brief in its competitor FilmOn’s appeal of the nationwide preliminary injunction imposed by the D.C. district court, said broadcasters in a filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for…
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the D.C. Circuit Thursday. Aereo had filed a motion for leave to file a brief in support of neither party, but Aereo’s proposed brief is just a duplicate of FilmOn’s arguments, broadcasters said. “Aereo is itself a defendant in copyright cases involving the same plaintiffs and issues” said the broadcasters. “Its proposed brief is simply an effort to circumvent Appellants’ page limits.” Aereo “has a direct interest in the legal principles to be determined by this Court in these appeals,” argued Aereo in its motion. The D.C. circuit has a rule against briefs repeating the same facts and arguments, the broadcasters said. It’s not surprising that Aereo’s interests “are indistinguishable from Appellants’ interests,” said the broadcasters. FilmOn will make all the same arguments in its appeal, the broadcasters said, “obviating any need for a duplicative recitation of these same arguments by the identically-situated Aereo."