Broadcasters Win One Round Against Ivi

A judge in the U.S. District Court in Seattle has granted a motion by Fisher Communications and other broadcasters and networks to dismiss ivi Inc.'s suit there, concluding that ivi improperly filed the Seattle suit in anticipation of being sued by broadcasters and others in another jurisdiction. The decision clears the way for a court in New York to take up the copyright infringement case against ivi for its distribution of TV station signals over the Internet. This is the same court that recently decided in favor of broadcasters and against FilmOn, another company that was retransmitting broadcast signals over the internet without retransmission consents, and claiming it was a cable system.