Fox Appeals Dish Network Decision; Asks for Restraining Order Against AutoHop Service

Fox Broadcasting and 20th Century Fox have filed an appeal of their claim that Dish Network’s AutoHop service infringes on their copyright and is in breach of their contract, so there should be a restraining order to stop its service.

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The appeal was filed with the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Thursday after they were turned down for a temporary injunction by the U.S. District Court.

Read the complaint here

“The district court found that Dish infringes Fox’s copyrights when it copies Fox programs,” says the filing, asking if it was then not an error for the same judge to “ignore its own findings and refuse to enjoin Dish on the theory that the irreparable harm does not ‘flow from’ the infringing copies?”

Fox contends that the Dish AutoHop service, when it records the entire schedule of all four major networks to make the programs available to their subscribers for a week after they air, is actually creating a “bootleg” form of video-on-demand, which is not legal under its contract to carry Fox programming.

“The district court found that Dish infringes Fox’s copyrights when it copies Fox programs,” says the filing, asking if it was then not an error for the same judge to “ignore its own findings and refuse to enjoin Dish on the theory that the irreparable harm does not ‘flow from’ the infringing copies?”

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Fox also complains to the appeals court that the main source of its financing comes from the sale of commercials, but AutoHop allows viewer to skip the commercials when they play the show back, “disrupting fox’s licensing relationships in secondary, non-broadcast markets.”

Fox pleads that all of these “irreparable harms” support its case for a preliminary injunction. “Dish’s unauthorized commercial-free VOD service is anything but fair,” pleads Fox, “and the need to enjoin it could not be greater.”

If the injunction is not granted, says Fox’s filing, it does threaten to disrupt their ability to license programs and recoup their “massive” investment.

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Fox tells the court that it is not “crying wolf.”

It likely will take several months to find out if the federal court of appeals judges agree.