Playback of Films on Cablevision's Remote Storage DVR System Not Copyright Infringement, Second Circuit Rules

Holding:

In this appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed a decision of the Southern District of New York and held that Cablevision Systems Corp. ("Cablevision") did not commit direct copyright infringement through the playback of copyrighted movies via its "Remote Storage Digital Video Recorder" ("RS-DVR") – a technology that lets customers store recorded films on a central server, rather than on a hard drive in the customers’ home, like standard DVRs. Plaintiffs-appellees, producers of copyrighted movie and television programs that they provide to Cablevision, filed the underlying copyright infringement suit, contending that the operation of the RS-DVR system would directly infringe their copyrights through unauthorized reproductions and public performance of their protected works. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found in favor of plainitffs-appellees. On appeal, however, the Second Circuit reversed the summary judgment award. Specifically, the Second Circuit found that it is the customer, and not Cablevision, who does the unauthorized copying, the same way that a VCR user who operates the VCR machine is the one who makes "copies" of the video cassette. Because each RS-DVR playback transmission is made to a single subscriber using a single unique copy produced by that subscriber, the Second Circuit concluded that such transmissions are not performances “to the public,” and therefore do not infringe any exclusive right of public performance. On the basis of the foregoing, the Second Circuit issued summary judgment to defendant-appellant Cablevision.

Detailed Summary:

In March 2006, defendant-appellant Cablevision, an operator of cable television systems, announced the advent of its new “Remote Storage” Digital Video Recorder System (“RS-DVR System “).  As designed, the RS-DVR System allows Cablevision customers who do not have a stand-alone DVR to record cable programming on central hard drives housed and maintained by Cablevision at a “remote” location. Opinion, pp. 4-5.

Cablevision customers may then receive playback of those programs through their home television sets, using only a remote control and a standard cable box equipped with the RS-DVR System software. Cablevision notified its content providers, including plaintiffs, of its plans…

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