Bell targets second small IPTV provider over copyright claim

Zazeen Inc. is facing legal action from BCE Inc. over its Internet protocol TV (IPTV) service, with the incumbent calling the small provider’s service copyright infringement. In a statement of claim filed with the Federal Court last month, Bell said Zazeen is currently operating “an unlicensed Internet delivered service… that is exempt from licensing by the CRTC.” According to the statement, Zazeen has had a number of agreements with Bell to offer its content since 2013. Zazeen was licensed as a broadcast distribution undertaking (BDU) by the CRTC in 2012. “From a date not known to Bell, but known to Zazeen, Zazeen has been acting outside the terms and conditions of the Agreements by offering Bell Media’s copyrighted content over the Internet as part of the Internet-Delivered Service,” the claim said. “The Internet-Delivered Service streams Bell Media’s copyrighted content over the Internet to anyone at any location using an Internet connection supplied by any number of unaffiliated Canadian ISPs.” The claim adds: “It streams copyrighted content to a set-top box… owned by Zazeen or any mobile device supplied by any number of unaffiliated companies.” According to information available on Zazeen’s website, its TV service is provided “through a closed network. The service itself is non-nomadic and cannot be used outside of your home internet network. It must be used with at a fixed address with a DSL, Cable, fixed (not mobile) wireless, or fiber Internet connection. You will only be able to watch television from your home internet network with a connected Zazeen Inc. licensed Set-top-box.” Zazeen’s licence agreements with Bell allow for the company to distribute Bell’s content through an IPTV service, “whereby digital television signals are delivered via the architecture and networking methods of the Internet Protocol Suite over a closed packet-switched network infrastructure through an individual’s set-top box to a television set at the place of reception,” and doesn’t permit Zazeen to offer its conventional and discretionary channels “to individuals who are not subscribers of its Licensed BDU service nor offer it over the Internet,” the claim said. Subscribers to its IPTV service don’t require Zazeen’s Internet service in order to obtain its skinny basic package, however those who want its regular TV package, called Beyond Basic, are subject to different rules, according to the site’s frequently asked questions section. “It has to be ordered with one of our Internet packages due to CRTC requirements,” the website said. Bell filed the claim on Nov. 10, prior to the company’s success in a separate action against VMedia Inc., in which an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled on Nov. 22 the live-streaming, over-the-top (OTT) offering of Bell’s CTV and CTV Two networks was infringing its copyright. Similar to the VMedia claim, Bell said Zazeen doesn’t count as a “retransmitter” under the Copyright Act and isn’t eligible for protection under section 31 of the legislation because “the Internet-Delivered Service plainly falls within the definition of ‘new media retransmitter’” — which are exempt from CRTC licensing. Independent broadcasting consultant and lawyer Peter Miller said in phone interview that there aren’t clear boundaries drawn by the CRTC, which may be leading to these cases — if that’s where Bell is focusing its challenge. An exempt digital media undertaking uses the public Internet all the time, Miller said. “If you’re a BDU, you can use the public Internet in part, but you have to use some combination of your own facilities and dedicated set top boxes. The commission has not defined exactly how much of that you need to have.” Using the VMedia case as an example, Miller said “they were using the public Internet, but they had their own dedicated set-top box, so they thought that would be OK from a CRTC perspective.” — With reporting by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Bell targets second small IPTV provider over copyright claim

Broadcast | December 13, 2016

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Bell targets second small IPTV provider over copyright claim

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