Cablevision Wins Network DVR Appeal

In March, 2007, Cablevision was sued by “several Hollywood studios and TV networks” when the company tried to introduce a networked DVR service. A New York court ruled against Cablevision when the judge came to the conclusion that the service would have been infringing to the plaintiff’s copyright. After the defeat in court, Cablevision appealed to the federal court.

Surely enough, earlier today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the State of New York ruled against the earlier decision, believing that the company’s proposed networked-DVR service could only hold the same concerns as a local DVR, even if the content is located on Cablevision’s servers.

The technology would provide the ability for customers to have a DVR-like service without having to upgrade to new hardware. In the future, this could mean that customers wouldn’t have to rent a set-top box at all, with the availability of cable card compatible televisions and a subscription to Cablevision’s service.

On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York, ruled that Cablevision’s proposed new service that allows movies and TV shows to be recorded on remote storage servers in Cablevision’s network “would not directly infringe plaintiffs’ exclusive rights to reproduce and publicly perform their copyrighted works.” The appeals court overturned a lower court’s decision that was issued in March 2007.