Second Circuit overturns remote-DVR ban

New York cable operator Cablevision's planned remote-storage digital video recorder does not violate Hollywood studios' copyrights, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today (PDF). The decision overturns a district court ruling that blocked introduction of the device because, the lower court said, it would directly infringe on Hollywood IP. Not so, the appellate court said:

[The service] would not directly infringe plaintiffs' exclusive rights to reproduce and publicly perform their copyrighted works.

"We appreciate the Court's perspective that, from the standpoint of existing copyright law, remote-storage DVRs are the same as the traditional DVRs that are in use today," Tom Rutledge, Cablevision's chief operating officer, said in a statement.