Download PDF Peer-to-Peer File Sharing and Secondary Liability in Copyright Law by Alain Strowel

Sinopsis

Every book has a history. This book originates in a 2005 Brussels conference discussing the impact of peer-to-peer technology on the future of copyright law.2 Peer-to-peer technology, as further explained below, allows people to exchange information over the Internet via many equal or ‘peer’ machines linked across a network, rather than on a central server. From a copyright point of view, the main controversy surrounding peer-to-peer networks is whether providers of peer-to-peer technology and services can be liable when users infringe copyright through their networks. This issue has been hotly debated in legal circles and in the press, especially in 2005, when the US Supreme Court issued its highly anticipated decision in the controversial case MGM Studios, Inc. v Grokster Ltd.3 In this decision, the Supreme Court held that the two popular file-sharing networks, Grokster and Streamcast (dba Morpheus), were indeed liable for ‘actively inducing’ the end-users’ acts of infringement. As will be explained, the liability for inducement is one form of secondary liability for copyright infringement.

Peer-to-peer (or P2P) file sharing and secondary liability are the central themes in this collection of essays on copyright. Both topics are closely linked. ‘Secondary’ (or derived) liability presupposes a primary infringer. In peer-topeer networks, the primary infringers, those who upload copyrighted files without authorization, are numerous and difficult to reach, and going after them poses many legal and practical issues. Copyright owners thus prefer to direct their legal actions against those who allow or promote direct infringements, for instance, those who operate the peer-to-peer networks or develop the technical means (in particular the software) to make primary infringements online possible. The development of peer-to-peer networks over the Internet has, therefore, brought the issue of secondary liability to the forefront.

Content

1. Liability of users and third parties for copyright infringements on the Internet: overview of international developments
2. Legal issues in peer-to-peer file sharing, focusing on the making available right
3. Secondary liability for copyright infringement with regard to hyperlinks
4. Copyright control v compensation: the prospects for exclusive rights after Grokster and Kazaa
5. Global networks and domestic laws: some private international law issues arising from Australian and US liability theories
6. A bipolar copyright system for the digital network environment
7. Sharing out online liability: sharing files, sharing risks and targeting ISPs
8. A reverse notice and takedown regime to enable public interest uses of technically protected copyrighted works

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