IceTV vs. Nine – High Court judgment tomorrow

April 21st, 2009

The long awaited judgment from the High Court of Australia in the three year legal battle between IceTV and the Nine Network will be handed down in Canberra tomorrow morning (Wednesday 22 April at 10:15), almost six months after the case was brought by IceTV in front of the full bench of the Hight Court.

The decision in this landmark case, once dubbed the battle between ‘David and Goliath’, will be of great interest to many in the industry and to all IceTV users and supporters.

IceTV successfully defended the Nine Network’s allegations including having costs awarded in a judgment handed down in August 2007 by her Honour Justice Bennett in the Federal Court after some eight months of deliberation. The Federal Court found that IceTV did not and does not in any way breach Nine’s copyright in creating its IceTV Guide, which is an “independent compilation” built using IceTV’s own proprietary methodology and software applications.

The Nine Network then appealed the decision and the matter was heard by the Full Court of the Federal Court in February, 2008. In May 2008, the ruling made by Justice Bennett was overturned by the Full Court.

IceTV immediately complied with the Court ruling, modifying its compilation practices as required and has continued to provide its innovative EPG service to users, including scheduling information for Channel Nine.

IceTV immediately sought and was granted special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia and the appeal was heard in Canberra in October 2008. Immediately following the High Court’s decision tomorrow, IceTV will issue a public statement via the IceTV website and send an email out to all IceTV users.

From the incorporation of IceTV in February 2005, IceTV has had one aim: To give our customers freedom of choice in everything they watch on their TV: To record what they want, skip what they want and watch it at a time that suits them.

We thank our subscribers and IceTV Partners for their continued support and we look forward to putting the matter behind us and getting back to implementing new and exciting features for everyone to enjoy.

Regards,

IceTV

Posted in Corporate, Press Release.