'Streaming Mad' Fox Files Copyright & Trademark Suit Against BarryDriller

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)An offensive against television streaming services was launched last week in the United States District Court for the Central District of California via a four-count, 17-page complaint, Fox Television Services, Inc. et al. v. BarryDriller Content Systems PLC (Case No. 12-cv-6921), that alleges copyright and trademark infringement.

According to accounts by CNN Money and THR, Esq., the plaintiffs claim the signal of  KTTV, Fox's Los Angeles affiliate, is being streamed by the defendant without permission. The complaint alleges the defendant is capturing live broadcast programming and then copying the programming and streaming it over the Internet where the public may view it on Web-enabled devices.

The plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages and injunctive relief against the defendant streaming service, which set up shop on August 7 under the aegis of Alki David. BarryDriller charges users $5.95 monthly to transmit the free tv signals to subscribers' personal antennas.

On the East Coast, free tv broadcasters and content owners are waging war against the digital  tv streaming service Aereo (one of whose financial backers is media maven Barry Diller). A New York judge rejected an injunction request against Aereo in a case that turns, in part, on the issue of whether Aereo's one-on-one streaming transmittal to an individual's miniature antenna constitutes public broadcasting.