LOS ANGELES -- A judge Friday barred Mexican TV program producer Televisa from making its shows available in the U.S. over the Internet because of an exclusive distribution deal it has with the country's top Spanish-language broadcaster, Univision.
U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez said the online shows would violate a 25-year contract that gives Univision Communications Inc. the exclusive U.S. broadcast rights to shows made by Grupo Televisa SA through 2017.
Univision applauded the ruling and said it was exploring its legal options to show content in the U.S. online.
Televisa said it plans to appeal the decision.
"Univision does not have the right to transmit Televisa content over the Internet, and Televisa would vigorously oppose any such frivolous claim by Univision that it does," Televisa said in a statement.
"It would seem that the only apparent winners in this ruling are Internet sites that are unauthorized to replay the content," the statement said.
