• by Wayne Friedman , 7 hours ago

TV/streaming measurement company EDO Inc. has been found liable for breach of contract -- one that it had with now competitor iSpot.tv.

A jury in the U.S. Court for the Central District of California in L.A. found EDO (Entertainment Data Oracle) liable and determined it must pay iSpot $18.3 million in damages.

EDO has been a client of iSpot from 2014 to 2018, providing movie box-office analytics, according to the iSpot complaint.

Actor Edward Norton is a co-founder of EDO.

According to the iSpot complaint, EDO spent three-and-a-half years improperly obtaining data from iSpot and then sold it to marketing clients as it built its own TV/streaming measurement business.

The original lawsuit, filed in 2021, included complaints of misappropriation of trade secrets, copyright violation and breach of contract.

EDO countersued in 2022, “alleging tortious interference in a prospective business relationship.”

Following the $18.3 million decision, iSpot said: "We are gratified that the jury recognized EDO’s blatant breach of contract... However, we’re still disappointed that the decision on the other claim misinterpreted the scope of the protections our metadata deserves."

It added: “While the court previously limited our copyright and DMCA [Digital Millennium Copyright Act] claims, today’s verdict ensures that no company can simply sign a contract, scrape data, and call it 'innovation.'"

The jury agreed with iSpot in only about half of iSpot’s claims. For example, the jury rejected iSpot’s trade-secret misappropriation claims, finding that the data involved did not qualify as trade secrets under the law.

"The jury’s awarded damages represent a fraction of the amount iSpot demanded throughout this litigation,” according to an EDO statement after the verdict. “We are pleased that the jury rejected iSpot’s inflated claims of trade secret misappropriation and narrowed the focus to a technical contract dispute.

EDO added: “While we disagree with the finding on the breach of contract, we are grateful the jury saw through the attempts to characterize standard industry innovation as theft."

An iSpot spokesperson replied to Television News Daily: “Measurement is supposed to be about providing truth, transparency, accountability and trust for the market place... We are pleased a jury found it necessary to impose some level of accountability. Integrity matters." 

An EDO spokesman responded: "We see this for what it is – iSpot’s desperate attempt to slow down a smaller, smarter competitor and distract us from doing what we do best.... While we disagree strongly with this decision and plan to appeal, EDO remains the leading outcomes measurement company, trusted by every major media organization and many leading brands for the critical insights that drive their success.”

This story has been updated