“Locast is not the Robin Hood of television. Nor is Locast acting for the benefit of consumers who, according to Locast when promoting its purportedly free service, ‘pay too much,’” the lawsuit reads. “Locast is not a public service devoted to viewers whose reception is affected by tall buildings. (In the case of AT&T, this at the time also included U-verse set-tops.) AT&T also contributed $500,000 to Locast’s aforementioned nonprofit parent company, the Sports Fans Coalition. “While it pretends to be a public service without any commercial purpose, Locast’s marketing and deep connections to AT&T and Dish make clear that it exists to serve its pay TV patrons.”Īlso Read: Locast Seeks Funds for Legal Fight Against Broadcastersīoth AT&T and Dish added Locast apps to their pay TV set-top boxes. “Locast is simply Aereo 2.0, a business built on illegally using broadcaster content,” the suit contends. The lawsuit also accuses Locast of allowing its service to be used as a pawn in broadcast retransmission negotiations with Dish and AT&T, operators of the Dish and DirecTV satellite TV companies, respectively. In July 2019, ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC filed suit against Locast, comparing it to Aereo and alleging that the streaming service violates their copyrights by retransmitting their programming without permission and compensation. Of course, the legal challenge from the major broadcasters was inevitable. Locast claimed it didn't have to negotiate retransmission fees from broadcasters, and was exempt from copyright restrictions, unless it was turning a profit. Locast streamed signals from local TV stations, all positioned to comply with FCC exclusivity rules. 111(a)(5) that allows nonprofit translator services to rebroadcast local stations without receiving a copyright license from the broadcaster, and even collect a fee to cover the cost of operations. Locast, in contrast, operated under a law written into the Copyright Act of 1976 (17 U.S.C. So what made Locast think the same thing won’t happen to its service? The 2014 ruling effectively put Aereo out of business. And in a lawsuit filed against Aereo by a number of the broadcast networks, SCOTUS ruled against the startup. But Aereo (like Locast today) didn’t obtain permission from the copyright owners of any programs it transmitted. Aereo’s model let subscribers pay to lease individual, dime-sized antennas situated in local warehouses. Launched in 2012, Aereo offered a viewing alternative for early cord cutters looking for a way to replace major broadcast stations in era that lacked platforms like CBS All Access. As you may recall, Aereo ultimately crashed on the rocky shores of the U.S. Locast's solicitation of "donations" was its Achilles' heel.Īlso Read: Gigi Sohn Joins Locast Board Locast Lawsuitįew discussions about Locast’s legal underpinnings don’t involve Aereo, entrepreneur Chet Kanojia’s streaming startup that predated Locast by nearly a decade. “These costs will only go up as we expand our service to new markets, as well as when more and more people cut the cord to become new Locasters.” “There are considerable costs for equipment, bandwidth and operational support that helps run Locast,” according to a statement on the website. If subs don't donate, their streams will be interrupted every 15 minutes with a solicitation for donations. Locast, in addition, had a donate button on its website (the donation button is still there!), suggesting subscribers donate at least $5 per month. The nonprofit service launched a GoFundMe page with the goal to raise $500,000. Donations, however, were suggested by its nonprofit operator. There was no subscriber cost for Locast, and the platform wasn’t ad-supported, either. Up to the suspension of its services, Locast claimed more than 3 million viewers have signed up for the service.
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