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THE APPLICATION OF COPYRIGHT LAWS & OTHER CONSIDERATIONS IN THE USE OF LIVE TELEVISION IN IFE Prepared for the World Airline Entertainment Association by Michael Childers President & CEO, LightStream Communications Group info@lightstreamcom.com
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3 Key Areas of IFE Evaluation n The Technology System n The Content Issues n The Business Model
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Key Issues n Legal Issues n Administrative Considerations n Technology Implications What are the key issues airlines need to consider when evaluating “live-to-air” IFE, i.e., satellite- delivered programming?
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Legal Issues: 2 Categories –Regulatory Considerations –Copyright Laws
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The United States 1976 Copyright Act (U.S. Code, Title 17) classifies motion pictures in two broad categories: n Private Home Use n Public Performance Exhibition Copyright Law
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To perform a motion picture “publicly” under the law means “to perform or display it at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances are gathered.” - (Section 106 [4]) “Public Performance”
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–Over-the-air network television –local syndicated television –cable television –pay television –satellite television including DBS –videocassettes, discs, DVD Private Home Use:
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Two Public Performance Groups: n Theatrical n Non-Theatrical Public Performances
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n The timed sequence of release of product through various markets on a price-sensitive basis. n Used by content providers to protect price structure. “Windows of Availability”:
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IFE is a non-theatrical public performance. n The right to publicly perform content is exclusive to the copyright owner. n No content provider impacting IFE grants any downstream market any primary or secondary use license to include service to aircraft. IFE = Public Performance
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The decision as to whether to license content for use in a public performance market through only a single venue, or to permit secondary use separated via windows of availability, is also exclusive to the copyright owner. Secondary Use
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IFE is a non-theatrical public performance. n The right to publicly perform content is exclusive to the copyright owner. n No content provider impacting IFE grants any downstream market any primary or secondary use license to service aircraft. n Rights not expressly granted in distribution contracts are reserved by the copyright owner. IFE = “Exclusive Window”
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“… the same programming in the air that your passengers get on the ground, including PPV movies…” “… 30 TV channels at a cost competitive with other forms of IFE programming…” Claims Made by Sellers
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“A performance made available by transmission to the public at large is ‘public’ even though the recipients are not gathered in a single place… The same principles apply whenever the potential recipients of the transmission represent a limited segment of the public, such as occupants of hotel rooms...” - House Report, supra, at 64-65 U.S. House of Representatives Report accompanying 1976 Copyright Act accompanying 1976 Copyright Act What about PTV?
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“If the same copy… of a given work is repeatedly played (i.e., ‘performed’) by different members of the public, albeit at different times, this constitutes a ‘public performance’.” - Z.M. Nimmer, 8.14 [C3], at 8-142 “Nimmer on Copyright” What about VOD?
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Exhibition inside an aircraft, transporting a substantial number of persons outside a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances, constitutes a public performance regardless of whether it is a corporate or commercial aircraft. What about corporate jets?
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For an airline to have the right to transmit onboard via satellite or other means the content of the Disney Channel, B-Sky-B, CBS, NBC, BBC, ITV, DirecTV, Star TV, HBO, Canal Plus, etc., separate licenses to each program must be obtained from the copyright owner of each program. A Separate License for Each Program
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The 4 Cost Centers in IFE: n Hardware/Software Delivery Systems n Content License Fees n Program Delivery Costs n Administration of Content Licenses Administrative Considerations
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n You can avoid seeking third party licenses to individual programs on a specific channel by obtaining output licenses from broadcast services who produce 100% of their own programming. n But these are a small minority… is there enough? “Output Licensing”
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30 -5 25 24 600 Channels Hours 200 800 1000 182.5 182,500 one-hour segments half-hour segments segments broadcast days individual program segments You do the math:
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Separating Delivery from the Programming –It may be more practical for the airline to license programming separate from delivery. –Is the interest in “live TV” content-driven or delivery-driven? –Perhaps you can license specific programs and pull in their satellite signals selectively rather than delivering all the output of each channel. Other Considerations
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–Is it really “live TV” or is it “live” delivery of pre-recorded programming? –People in IFE referring to “live TV” may often really mean “real-time, fixed- schedule” programming. Live-to-Air-TV
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Technology Implications n What of Replay TV, TiVo and Web TV? n A paradigm change in TV viewing is about to happen. n Is real-time, fixed-time programming a thing of the past? n If satellites are used only to download to a hard drive for subsequent VOD access, will there be channel identities and configurations in the future?
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Questions & Answers
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