Dish, Fox Settle PrimeTime Anytime Suit Over AutoHop Ad-Skipping Service

Dish Network is modifying its AutoHop commercial-skipping service as part of an out-of-court settlement with Fox. In a stipulated dismissal filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, plaintiffs Fox, Twentieth Century Fox Film and Fox Television Holdings and defendants Dish and EchoStar said they agreed to a voluntary dismissal with prejudice of Fox's 2012 complaint about Dish's PrimeTime Anytime VOD service. Dish and Fox last month indicated they were discussing a possible settlement (see 1601270015). In a joint statement Thursday, they said as part of the settlement "Dish's AutoHop commercial-skipping functionality will not be available for owned and affiliated Fox stations until seven days after a program first airs." Fox argued in its 2012 lawsuit that PrimeTime Anytime and its AutoHop service, which strips out commercials from network programming, was an "attempt to camouflage" copyright infringement (see report in the Aug. 28, 2012, issue). Dish still is fighting a 2012 suit brought by NBC Studios (see 1208280067), while AutoHop's legal fights with ABC, CBS and Disney Studios were settled in 2014 (see 1412100057).