filed an amicus brief in Fox v. TVEyes on March 23, 2016. In the brief, the Internet Archive and its partners urge the court to issue a decision that will support rather than hinder the development of comprehensive archives of television broadcasts.
between Fox News and TVEyes, a service that records all content broadcast by more than 1,400 television and radio stations and transforms the content into a searchable database for its subscribers. Fox News sued TVEyes in 2013, alleging that the service violates its copyright. TVEyes asserted that its use of Fox News content is protected by fair use.
politicaltvadDrawing on the Internet Archive’s experience with its TV News Archive and Political TV Ad Archive, the friend-of-the-court brief highlights the public benefits that flow from archiving and whatsapp lead making television content available for public access. “The TV News Archive allows the public to view previously aired broadcasts–as they actually went out over the air–to evaluate and understand statements made by public officials, members of the news media, advertising sponsors, and others, encouraging public discourse and political accountability,” said Roger Macdonald, Director of the TV Archive.
Moreover, creating digital databases of television content allows aggregated information about the broadcasts themselves to come to light, unlocking researchers’ ability to process, mine, and analyze media content as data. “Like library collections of books and newspapers, television archives like the TV News Archive and the Political TV Ad Archive allow anyone to thoughtfully assess content from these influential media, enhancing the work of journalists, scholars, teachers, librarians, civic organizations, and other engaged citizens,” said Tomasz Barczyk, a Berkeley Law student from the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic who helped author the brief.