Century Southwest Cable Television, Inc. v. Ciif Associates

CIIF Associates, a Massachusetts general partnership (CIIF), appeals the grant of a preliminary injunction in favor of Century Southwest Cable Television Inc., a Delaware corporation (Century). The case, of first impression in this circuit, involves the rights of an apartment owner to exclude a franchised cable television operator from servicing its apartments. We reverse the grant of the preliminary injunction.

FACTS

The following are the only facts that were found by the district court:

Century holds a franchise from the City of Los Angeles to operate a cable television system in the area known as Franchise Area G, stretching from Calabasas to Studio City, south of Ventura Boulevard to Franklin on the Hollywood side and Sunset on the Beverly Hills side. CIIF is the owner of View-Pointe Apartments (Apartments), a 663 unit complex of 12 buildings within Franchise Area G.

In 1989, with the consent of the previous owner of the Apartments, Century installed a cable television distribution system at the Apartments. The system included conduit and wiring in the utility trenches connecting the twelve buildings and the internal wiring in the 12 buildings. The cables were also…