Cartoon Network LP, LLLP v. CSC Holdings, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
536 F.3d 121 (2008)
Cablevision (defendant) developed a Remote Storage DVR system that briefly buffered small program segments (each existing for no more than 1.2 seconds) before storing them at a customer's request; content providers including Cartoon Network (plaintiff) sued, arguing this buffering and the resulting stored copies infringed their exclusive reproduction right, and the district court granted Cartoon Network summary judgment, finding infringement; Cablevision appealed.
Whether a copyright holder's reproduction right is infringed when a reproduction of the copyrighted work exists only for a brief, transitory period, and whether a service provider is a direct infringer when its customers control the copying decision.