international
Is it illegal to air a pay-per-view channel on a free-to-air frequency?
<p>I stumbled upon an article wherein there seems to be an ongoing case on a certain country with one of their biggest TV network as it is currently pending franchise renewal - with only a month to spare. </p>

<p>According to the documents submitted by the one requested a quo warranto petition against them, is that they are airing a pay-per-view channel on a free-to-air frequency. </p>

<p>What are your thoughts regarding this? Is it illegal to air a pay-per-view channel on a free-to-air frequency or does it depend on the country?</p>

<p>Whether or not copyright infringement is legal does depends on the particular country, and apparently there is no copyright law in Eritrea, Turkmenistan and San Marino. Otherwise, this could be a clear case of copyright infringement. I say <em>could</em> because the party requiring payment is not necessarily the owner of the copyright – is is also possible that the copyright owner <em>has</em> given permission for over the air (in the clear) transmission of some show. They may have also granted a license to a cable company, and the license might be exclusive or non-exclusive, but that is about the relationship of the owner to the cable company. Supposing that the copyright owner granted a license to the cable company and not to the broadcast channel, then it would be copyright infringement (thus, illegal) to broadcast that show. But it depends on a lot of details that we don't know.</p>
