Topic 6
- Netcom,
Grokster, and R.I.A.A. - Secondary infringement (digital media, the Net, and
§ 512)
1. ISPs as direct infringers
- E-mail carrying infringing material from A to B (implicating the e-mail
service providers of both)
- B places on Web server (maintained by yet another party)
- Search engine of still another party indexes B's page including the infringing
file
Can any of the ISPs be held as direct infringers?
2. ISPs as secondary
infringers
Which of the two forms of secondary
liability is the better fit for the e-mail service provider, the Web page host,
and the search engine operator?
3. The special case of audio copies (R.I.A.A.)
- Is copyright infringed when the purchaser of several CDs extracts audio
files from them using a computer?
- Is it infringed when selected songs from the original CDs are recompiled
onto a fresh CD?
See the Audio Home Recording Act, §
1008.
The strategy reflected in Chapter 10:
- Require devices to safeguard against serial copies
- Give up on individual non-commercial copying
- "Royalty" pool
4. File sharing and secondary liability
Are you clear on how the Ninth Circuit distinguishes the secondary liability
claims against StreamCast and Grokster from the previously successful action
against Napster?