Restrictions on Content-Sharing by Email Necessary for Fair Use: SDNY | Practical Law

Restrictions on Content-Sharing by Email Necessary for Fair Use: SDNY | Practical Law

In Fox News Network, LLC v. TVEyes, Inc., the US District Court for the Southern District of New York granted a permanent injunction against certain functions of TVEyes, Inc.'s service providing Fox News Network video clips to TVEyes' subscribers, but found that a function allowing users to share clips by email is protected by fair use if TVEyes implements certain protective measures.

Restrictions on Content-Sharing by Email Necessary for Fair Use: SDNY

Practical Law Legal Update w-000-7508 (Approx. 3 pages)

Restrictions on Content-Sharing by Email Necessary for Fair Use: SDNY

by Practical Law Intellectual Property & Technology
Published on 10 Nov 2015 • USA (National/Federal)
In Fox News Network, LLC v. TVEyes, Inc., the US District Court for the Southern District of New York granted a permanent injunction against certain functions of TVEyes, Inc.'s service providing Fox News Network video clips to TVEyes' subscribers, but found that a function allowing users to share clips by email is protected by fair use if TVEyes implements certain protective measures.
On November 6, 2015, in Fox News Network, LLC v. TVEyes, Inc., the US District Court for the Southern District of New York granted a permanent injunction against certain features of TVEyes, Inc.'s subscription service, which allows users to access, view, download, edit, and share clips from television and radio programs, but found that a TVEyes function allowing users to share clips via email is fair use if it implements certain protective measures (No. 13-Civ-5315 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 6, 2015)).
Specifically, the district court enjoined TVEyes from continuing the following activities, which the court had previously found to constitute copyright infringement:
  • Enabling users to download video clips of Fox News Channel (FNC) or Fox Business Network (FBN) content to their computers.
  • Enabling users to view FNC or FBN video clips via database searches by date, time, and channel.
  • Allowing users to share FNC or FBN video clips on social media websites.
The court permitted TVEyes to continue offering the feature enabling users to share FNC and FBN clips via email, but only if they implemented "adequate protection measures." The court explained that:
  • A TVEyes subscriber may not email a clip to more than five recipients at outside organizations.
  • TVEyes must also prevent subscribers from registering Gmail or other popular email providers as the domain name associated with their organization. In order to view the shared clip, recipients will have to enter their own email address to ensure they are the intended recipients.
  • Prior to subscribers being able to share clips outside of their organizations, TVEyes must display a prominent on-screen notification indicating that the content is protected by copyright law and may only be used for research and analysis purposes valid under fair use, and that neither TVEyes nor its subscribers are licensed to the content.
Although damages are still being litigated, and the order could be appealed, the injunction is noteworthy for setting forth the types of technological limitations that may need to be implemented by content-sharing services in order to preserve a fair use defense. The injunction goes into effect December 14, 2015.
For more information on the background of this case and the lower court's decision, see Legal Update, Fox News' Copyright Infringement Claim Blunted by TVEyes' Fair Use: SDNY.