In Cartoon Network v. CSC Holdings, 536 F.3d 121 (2nd Cir. 2008), the Second Circuit reversed a district court’s ruling and determined that a remote-storage DVR service does not infringe on the reproduction and public performance rights of copyright holders. This significant holding, which will likely be referenced in numerous future opinions, offers both good news and bad news.
Background
Defendant Cablevision Systems Corporation (”Cablevision?) offers a remote storage digital video recorder (”RS-DVR?) service ? like a cross between set-top DVR devices and video-on-demand services. A customer can program the RS-DVR to record and play back shows just like a regular DVR, except instead of storing the recorded shows on a set-top box, the RS-DVR stores the shows on Cablevision’s remote servers, obviating the need for a set-top box.
