1 Copyright Act of 1790 Passed to promote scientific and artistic progress Extended a right to copy to authors for 14 years Authors had to register products to obtain right Copyright Act of 1976 Incorporates mass media into copyright law Codifies fair use Extends right to various actions Extends length of copyright Provides legacy media a privileged position in the law
2 DMCA (1998) Made it a crime to circumvent anti- piracy measures coded in software Made it a crime to manufacture, sale or distribute code-cracking devices ISPs obtained limited liability Key Problem: Every instance of online content sharing is by definition a copy
3 Family Entertainment and Copyright Act 2005 Intellectual Property Protection Act 2007 Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act 1999 Consumer Broadband and Digital TV Promotion Act 2002 MGM v. Grokster 2005 U.S. v. ElcomSoft & Skylarov, 2002 A&M Music v. Napster 2001 Universal Studios v. Reimerdes 2001
4 The Issue of Net Neutrality The issue of online privacy Pushing and pulling between industries and consumers to fashion the digital space
5 What about newspapers?