In 1979 the U.S. Supreme Court sided against the FCC in the case "FCC v. Midwest Video Corp.", 440 U.S. 689 (1979), determining that the FCC's new requirements exceeded the agency's statutory powers as granted to them by Congress. The Supreme Court explicitly rejected the notion that cable companies were "common carriers", meaning that all persons must be provided carriage. Instead, the Supreme Court took the stance that cable companies were private persons under the law with First Amendment to the United States Constitution rights, and that the requirement for public-access television was in fact a burden on these free speech rights.