DEJA VU: Shades of 1984 Emerge in Broadcast TV Copyright Flap.

In 1984, Hollywood was arguing that the VCR and home taping would kill its business and wanted the Supreme Court to outlaw the devices from Americans’ living rooms. Luckily for Americans and Hollywood, the Supreme Court recognized the power of innovation and the limits of copyright in a 5-4 decision that helped unleash a revolution in home entertainment that included a multi-billion-dollar market in videotape and DVD sales and rentals.

Fast forward three decades and we’re right back to 1984.Broadcasters including ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and Univision are set to appear in court next month to urge a New York federal judge to block the latest television-viewing technology they claim will bankrupt their business model.

It’s not quite George Orwell’s 1984. But it is legal déjà vu.

To understand the latest legal jockeying, substitute the term VCR with Aereo. The upstart, Aereo, opened for business last month and supplies internet streams and a DVR service for over-the-air broadcasts to its New York customers. In other words, Aereo lets those in New York who want to watch on their iPad what they can pull down for free from the public airwaves to their TV with an antenna. For the moment, the service is free, but will soon charge $12 monthly.

Echoing Hollywood’s arguments against the VCR before the Supreme Court, broadcasters claim Aereo will doom them and are asking a federal judge to ban the service.

They don’t want viewers. They want prisoners.