Local Broadcasting Service Faces $32 Million Penalty, Cease Operations Permanently
Streaming Service Locast Shuts Down After Copyright Infringement Lawsuit
It's a bitter pill for television enthusiasts as over-the-air streaming service Locast, once hailed as a beacon of hope for Americans lacking TV access, has packed its bags for good. In a court filing on Thursday, Locast announced its decision to pay a hefty $32 million fine and call it quits, following a protracted legal battle with major broadcasters.
Locast, a brainchild of David Goodfriend, a former Clinton Administration aide and legal advisor at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, was founded in 2018 with the noble intention of circumventing copyright law by operating as a noncommercial entity. Despite the collapse of Aereo, a similar startup that offered paid streaming content, Locast stood firm, arguing its donation-driven, supposedly free service was entitled to a legal exception that permits nonprofit entities to retransmit broadcast programming for educational, public safety, or civic purposes[2].
In a 2019 New York Times piece, aptly titled "Locast, a Free App Streaming Network TV, Would Love to Get Sued," Goodfriend boasted about Locast's immaculate legal strategy. "We really did our homework," he declared. "We are operating under parameters that are designed to be compliant within the law."
The Big Four networks - ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC - saw this as a challenge and counterpunched six months later, filing a lawsuit against Locast, claiming the streaming service was nothing more than a clone of Aereo and was using donations from viewers to fund its expansion into new markets, thus violating copyright law[3].
"Locast is not a public service devoted to viewers whose reception is affected by tall buildings. Nor is Locast acting for the benefit of consumers who, according to Locast when promoting its purportedly free service, 'pay too much,'" reads the complaint filed by the networks in New York federal court in July of 2019[1]. "Locast is not the Robin Hood of television; instead, Locast's founding, funding, and operations reveal its decidedly commercial purposes."
In August 2021, a New York federal judge delivered a lethal blow to Locast's primary defense, ruling in favor of the broadcasters. The judge determined that Locast had indeed violated the exception by using donations to expand into 36 markets, eventually serving over half of the U.S. population[6]. Post the verdict, Locast temporarily halted its operations in September and now, sadly, it's time to say goodbye.
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/30/business/locast-streaming-broadcast-channels.html[2] https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/01/11/heres-how-locast-the-new-free-streaming-service-works/[3] https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/locast-stops-streaming-after-losing-copyright-lawsuit-to-broadcasters-1235026067/[4] https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/locast-sets-up-legal-defense-against-broadcasters-copyright-infringement-lawsuit-1220705[5] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-09/locast-is-shutting-down-marking-a-setback-for-free-streaming[6] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/09/locast-suspends-streaming-after-judge-sides-with-broadcasters-in-copyright-suit/
- The future of over-the-air streaming seems uncertain following Locast's closure, a service once deemed a good friend to Americans without TV access.
- Despite its donation-driven model, technology-driven Locast was purportedly found to have broken copyright law, leading to a federal lawsuit.
- The federal judge's ruling against Locast demonstrated that the streaming service had exceeded the legal parameters for nonprofit entities, despite Goodfriend's assertions of compliance with the law.
- In conclusion, the shutdown of Locast underscores the complexities of navigating technology and law in the context of digital streaming services.
