Dish Vs. Fox Continues: Fox Files Appeal Against Injunction Ruling
The DISH vs. Fox saga continues. Fox Broadcasting has filed an appeal today over Wednesday’s court decision to deny their injunction against DISH Network.
The appeal, which has been heavily redacted to protect trade secrets, seeks to overturn Judge Dolly Gee’s ruling that denied Fox’s attempt to shut down DISH’s “Hopper” service. Fox’s case will now leave US District Courts and go to trial in the US Court of Appeals Ninth District.
As previously reported in The Inquisitr, DISH’s “Hopper” service allows viewers to automatically skip ads on recorded material. DISH has defended their “Hopper” feature by calling it a matter of “consumer choice.” After Wednesday’s ruling, both sides issued official statements.
DISH Executive Vice President and General Council, R. Stanton Dodge, called Judge Gee’s decision a “victory”:
“Today’s ruling is a victory for common sense and customer choice. DISH is gratified that the Court has sided with consumer choice and control by rejecting Fox’s efforts to deny our customer’s access to PrimeTime Anytime and AutoHop — key features of the Hopper Whole-Home DVR. The ruling underscores the U.S. Supreme Court’s ‘Betamax’ decision, with the court confirming a consumer’s right to enjoy television as they want, when they want, including the reasonable right to skip commercials, if they so choose. We look forward to vigorously defending AutoHop and Primetime Anytime, and the choice and control those features deliver our subscribers.”
Fox Broadcasting disagreed. Citing part of the judge’s ruling that stated DISH was likely committing copyright infringement, Fox stated:
“The court denied Fox’s request for a preliminary injunction. But we are gratified the court found the copies DISH makes for its AutoHop service constitute copyright infringement and breach the parties’ contract. We are disappointed the court erred in finding that Fox’s damages were not suitable for a preliminary injunction. We intend to appeal that portion of the court’s decision, as well as the court’s separate findings concerning the PrimeTime Anytime service. DISH is marketing and benefitting from an unauthorized VOD service that illegally copies FOX’s valuable programming.”
Wednesday’s ruling hasn’t stopped Fox, NBC, and CBS from moving forward with their copyright infringement suits to put an end to DISH’s “Hopper” service. It remains to be seen if Fox Broadcasting’s filing of an appeal today over the injunction denial against DISH Network will be successful.
