Time Warner Cable, Inc. v. DIRECTV, Inc.

Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) (plaintiff) and DIRECTV, Inc. (defendant) were competing television-service providers. TWC was a cable company that offered analog and digital television services to customers, while DIRECTV was a satellite broadcaster that provided only digital television service. Both companies offered high-definition (HD) service of equally high picture quality on some of their channels. In 2006, DIRECTV launched its SOURCE MATTERS television and Internet advertising campaign to educate consumers about purchasing HD programming from a television-service provider to have HD picture quality on their HD televisions. DIRECTV ran television commercials featuring Jessica Simpson as Daisy Duke and William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk discussing DIRECTV HD service. In the Simpson commercial, Simpson said, among other things, “You’re just not gonna get the best picture out of some fancy big-screen TV without DIRECTV.” In the Shatner commercial, Shatner praised DIRECTV’s picture quality and then said, “With what Starfleet just ponied up for this big-screen TV, settling for cable would be illogical.” DIRECTV also released Internet advertisements that purported to show extremely blurry and pixelated images on “OTHER TV” (i.e., analog cable providers) compared to exceptionally clear pictures on DIRECTV. TWC sought a preliminary injunction in federal district court to prevent DIRECTV from using the television and Internet advertisements, asserting that the advertisements were literally false. The district court granted the preliminary injunction, and DIRECTV appealed.