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eBook details

• Title: Paying for the Sins of Their Users: Liability and Growing Uncertainty in a Digital Age (Twenty-Fourth Federalist Society Student Symposium, Law and Freedom) (Case Note)
• Author : Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy
• Release Date : January 22, 2005
• Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
• Pages : * pages
• Size : 315 KB

Description

Although space may represent the final frontier for man, the realm of cyberspace embodies an equally untamed wilderness. With more similarities to the Wild West than to a civilized modern society, (1) the Internet defies previously established principles of law and order, shunning the constructs of reality in favor of a virtual existence where there are few recognized legal conventions. Since the Supreme Court's decision in Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios Inc., (2) copyright holders and developers of emerging technology alike have struggled with the laws regarding the liability of distributors whose products are used by third parties for the purposes of copyright infringement. (3) The continuing creation and distribution of new software through the use of the Internet, however, has led the courts deeper into a legal quagmire. Gone are the days of Betamax (4) and cassette tapes; high-quality pirated music and video are now available for free download through online services. In the face of this emerging technology, courts and legal scholars are actively debating the merits of holding liable the distributors of products that enable the infringement of copyrights. (5) Last Term, in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., (6) the Supreme Court held that "one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyrights, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting [third-party] acts of [copyright] infringement." (7) Despite the Court's attempt to develop new rules for a digital age, the numerous opinions by the Justices in Grokster left a murky standard with little application outside the particular facts of that case. Presenting a unanimous opinion solely on the facts of the case, the Justices then splintered on the application of the law, set forth a vague holding without practical tools to combat the larger epidemic of online piracy, while simultaneously presenting conflicting applications of the previous standard for distributor liability under Sony. The Court's attempt to resolve the issue of copyright infringement runs the risk of overstepping the judicial branch's power by regulating a legislative policy matter better left to the discretion of Congress.

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