2nd Cir. Says ACE Not Required to Defend Dish Network Against Copyright Infringement Claims

NEW YORK — A federal appellate panel has ruled that ACE American Insurance Co. is not required to defend Dish Network Corp. against copyright infringement claims because a policy exclusion for injury allegedly caused in the business of "broadcasting" or "telecasting” applies.

In a Dec. 22 opinion, the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found the term “broadcasting,” as used in the exclusion, is not ambiguous and applies to Dish’s business.

DISH was sued by four television networks in separate lawsuits for alleged copyright infringement in connection with DISH’s "Hopper" product, a digital video recording service that during play-back automatically …