VMedia loses legal battle with Bell over streaming

TORONTO • Indie Internet and television service provider VMedia Inc. lost its court battle with broadcast giant Bell Canada over its nascent TV streaming service that aired conventional channels over the Internet.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled Tuesday that VMedia’s new service violated Bell’s rights under the Copyright Act by streaming CTV and CTV 2 without express permission.

The judge ordered VMedia to pay Bell $150,000 in costs.

The legal battle began days after VMedia launched a service in September that allowed customers to access VMedia’s inexpensive skinny basic TV package via a Netflix-like app on Roku, a streaming box, no matter who provided its connection.

VMedia argued the channels were fair game because they were available for free over-the-air and VMedia was a licensed broadcaster. Bell countered that it only gave VMedia permission to broadcast the channels in a closed system, not using any Internet connection. The parties sued each other.

The judge agreed with Bell, noting the case hinged on the simple issue of whether VMedia’s service was a new media retransmitter. He ruled that VMedia’s service was indeed since it was delivered and accessed over the Internet. New media retransmitters are not permitted to broadcast over-the-air channels without consent.

VMedia is disappointed with the ruling, but will comply with the judge and remove CTV and CTV 2 from its package, VMedia’s George Burger said Tuesday. It will continue to offer the service but only with channels that have given express consent, such as the Weather Network, he said.