Aereo Outlines Path Forward Following Supreme Court Blow

NEW YORK: Even though the Supreme Court ruled against Aereo in its copyright battle, the streaming video startup has said that it can and will still continue to operate and should be treated as a cable company going forward.

Following the Supreme Court's decision that Aereo violated broadcasters' copyrights, the service initially halted operations. Now, Aereo said in a letter to U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan that, according to its interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling, the service is entitled to license programming and the transmissions will then not infringe on broadcasters' rights.

"If Aereo is a 'cable system' as that term is defined in the Copyright Act, it is eligible for a statutory license and its transmissions may not be enjoined (preliminary or otherwise)," the letter stated. It continued: "The Supreme Court's holding that Aereo is a cable system under the Copyright Act is significant because, as a cable system, Aereo is now entitled to the benefits of the copyright statutory license pursuant to the Copyright Act."

Aereo is now proceeding to file the necessary statements of account and royalty fees.