Project Looking Forward, Sketching the Future of Copyright

300 Pages·1998·1.18 MB·English

Project Looking Forward
Sketching the Future of Copyright
in a Networked World
Final Report
May 1998
Prepared for the U.S. Copyright Office by
Professor I. Trotter Hardy
College of William and Mary
School of Law
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hardy, I.Trotter.
Project looking forward: sketching the future of copyright in a networked world,
May 1998 / final report by I. Trotter Hardy.
p. cm.
1. Copyright and electronic data processing—United States.
2. Internet (Computer network). I. Title.
KF3030.1.H37 1998 98-27418
346.7304’82—dc21 CIP
No copyright is claimed in this report by the U.S. Copyright Office or Professor
I.Trotter Hardy. Any use of the material contained herein should be accompanied by a
citation to its source.
Contents—Summary
Executive Summary _______________________ 11
What is the Internet?_____________________________ 11
Technologies relevant to copyright ________________ 13
Today’s legal issues______________________________ 15
Tomorrow’s issues ______________________________ 18
Three patterns of copyright and technology_________ 24
Copyright in a rapidly changing environment_______ 27
1. Introduction___________________________ 29
Methodology ___________________________________ 30
About names used in this Report __________________ 31
About predictions in this Report __________________ 31
2. How the Internet Works Today ____________ 33
2.1 Mechanics of switching_______________________ 35
2.2 Internet geography __________________________ 38
2.3 Internet switching technology _________________ 40
2.4 User capabilities _____________________________ 43
2.5 Who pays for the Internet? ____________________ 46
2.6 How big is the Internet? ______________________ 51
3. How the Internet Will Work Tomorrow _____ 53
3.1 Mechanics __________________________________ 54
3.2 Players and Organizations ____________________ 98
3.3 User Capabilities ___________________________ 105
4. Today’s Legal Issues ___________________ 119
4.1 Web posting _______________________________ 121
4.2 Caching ___________________________________ 124
4.3 RAM copies________________________________ 128
4.4 Intermediaries’ liability______________________ 133
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Contents—Summary
4.5 Wide-spread copying _______________________ 150
4.6 Digital registration and deposit_______________ 151
5. Tomorrow’s Issues _____________________ 153
5.1 Technology and new issues __________________ 154
5.2 “Pure” copyright issues _____________________ 157
5.3 Copyright and other laws____________________ 217
6. Analysis _____________________________ 237
6.1 Three Patterns of Copyright and New Technology238
6.2 History and Analysis of the Three Patterns_____ 244
6.3 Copyright in a rapidly changing environment __ 277
7. Conclusion ___________________________ 283
Today’s Legal Issues ____________________________ 284
Tomorrow’s Issues _____________________________ 285
Three patterns of copyright and new technology ___ 287
Copyright in a rapidly changing environment______ 289
8. Appendices___________________________ 291
8.1 People interviewed _________________________ 293
8.2 Presentations_______________________________ 299
8.3 Glossary___________________________________ 301
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Contents—Details
Executive Summary _______________________ 11
What is the Internet?_____________________________ 11
Technologies relevant to copyright ________________ 13
Today’s legal issues______________________________ 15
Tomorrow’s issues ______________________________ 18
Three patterns of copyright and technology_________ 24
Copyright in a rapidly changing environment_______ 27
1. Introduction___________________________ 29
Methodology ___________________________________ 30
About names used in this Report __________________ 31
About predictions in this Report __________________ 31
2. How the Internet Works Today ____________ 33
2.1 Mechanics of switching_______________________ 35
2.2 Internet geography __________________________ 38
2.3 Internet switching technology _________________ 40
2.4 User capabilities _____________________________ 43
Intranets _____________________________________________43
Search engines ________________________________________44
2.5 Who pays for the Internet? ____________________ 46
Backbone networks ____________________________________46
Regional networks_____________________________________48
Local networks________________________________________49
Network access points _________________________________49
2.6 How big is the Internet? ______________________ 51
3. How the Internet Will Work Tomorrow _____ 53
3.1 Mechanics __________________________________ 54
Economics and pricing _________________________________57
Encryption ___________________________________________61
Electronic copyright management systems________________69
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Contents—Details
Digital containers, objects____________________________ 71
“Superdistribution” ________________________________ 75
Proprietary viewers ___________________________________ 76
Fingerprinting, watermarking___________________________ 78
Handles _____________________________________________ 84
Repositories __________________________________________ 86
Convergence of media _________________________________ 86
Dispersed works ______________________________________ 90
Image searching ______________________________________ 91
Push versus pull technology ____________________________ 92
Customized information delivery_____________________ 94
Software agents ____________________________________ 95
3.2 Players and Organizations ____________________ 98
Content providers and carriers __________________________ 98
Everyone will not be a publisher _______________________ 100
Commercial vs. academic entities_______________________ 103
3.3 User Capabilities ___________________________ 105
Internet as backdrop__________________________________ 105
“Ubiquitous computing” ______________________________ 106
Software subscriptions ________________________________ 108
Reading from books versus computer screens ____________ 112
Real time audio and video_____________________________ 115
Interactive “chat” ____________________________________ 117
4. Today’s Legal Issues ___________________ 119
4.1 Web posting _______________________________ 121
4.2 Caching ___________________________________ 124
4.3 RAM copies________________________________ 128
4.4 Intermediaries’ liability______________________ 133
Intermediaries: analysis _______________________________ 135
Direct infringement___________________________________ 137
Strictness in copyright cases ________________________ 139
The tailoring of remedies as a compromise ____________ 142
Vicarious and contributory liability _____________________ 143
Intermediaries: conclusions ____________________________ 149
4.5 Wide-spread copying _______________________ 150
4.6 Digital registration and deposit_______________ 151
The Copyright Office as central repository _______________ 151
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Contents—Details
5. Tomorrow’s Issues _____________________ 153
5.1 Technology and new issues __________________ 154
5.2 “Pure” copyright issues _____________________ 157
Non-public posting ___________________________________157
“Live” information and display forms ___________________162
Factual information ___________________________________164
Avatars _____________________________________________169
Internet broadcasting _________________________________170
In-line linking and framing ____________________________171
Authorization and extra-territoriality____________________178
Works of visual art ___________________________________183
RAM copies and personal privacy ______________________186
RAM copies and junk e-mail and other inflows ___________190
Hypertext links out ________________________________193
Changes in pricing structure ___________________________194
Computer-generated works ____________________________195
Multiple authorship __________________________________197
Libraries, archives, search sites _________________________199
Statutory provisions for archives_____________________201
Facsimile copies of printed text ______________________202
Facsimile copies of digital text _______________________205
Search sites as reproductions ________________________206
Metered use _________________________________________210
Filtering_____________________________________________214
5.3 Copyright and other laws____________________ 217
Copyright and communications law_____________________219
Copyright and bailment law ___________________________224
Copyright and contract law ____________________________229
Copyright and the Uniform Commercial Code____________231
6. Analysis _____________________________ 237
6.1 Three Patterns of Copyright and New Technology238
New subject matter ___________________________________238
New use of existing works _____________________________240
“Decentralized infringement” __________________________240
Another pattern: contract interpretation _________________242
6.2 History and Analysis of the Three Patterns_____ 244
Subject matter: issues _________________________________244
Subject matter: analysis________________________________246
New uses: issues _____________________________________248
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Contents—Details
New uses of music ________________________________ 248
Radio ____________________________________________ 250
Cable ____________________________________________ 252
New uses: analysis ___________________________________ 256
Decentralized infringement: issues _____________________ 259
Private guidelines _________________________________ 260
Statutory immunization and compulsory license_______ 261
Fair use versus contributory infringement ____________ 262
Decentralized infringement: analysis____________________ 264
Do nothing _______________________________________ 264
Increase penalties _________________________________ 265
Educate the public_________________________________ 266
Make it lawful ____________________________________ 267
Technological responses____________________________ 269
Summary and conclusion on decentralized infringement __ 276
6.3 Copyright in a rapidly changing environment __ 277
7. Conclusion ___________________________ 283
Today’s Legal Issues ____________________________ 284
Tomorrow’s Issues _____________________________ 285
Three patterns of copyright and new technology ___ 287
Copyright in a rapidly changing environment______ 289
8. Appendices___________________________ 291
8.1 People interviewed _________________________ 293
8.2 Presentations_______________________________ 299
8.3 Glossary___________________________________ 301
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List of Figures
Figure 1: Map of Internet connectivity in June, 1996, from
<http://www.isoc.org/images/mapv15.gif> on
February 23, 1997. ________________________________________38
Figure 2: Map of Internet connectivity in June, 1997, from
<ftp://ftp.cs.wisc.edu/connectivity_table/Connectivit
y_Map.color.bmp> on January 25, 1998. ____________________39
Figure 3: MCI’s 1995 Internet backbone network, from
<http://www.mci.net/bipp95.html> on October 28,
1996.____________________________________________________47
Figure 4: MCI’s planned 1996 Internet backbone network,
from <http://www.mci.net/bipp96.html> on October
28, 1996._________________________________________________48
Figure 5: Map showing Internet “Network Access Points,”
where various backbone networks connect to each
other, from
<http://www.cerf.net/cerfnet/about/interconnects/
NSP-img_map.gif> on October 10, 1996. ____________________50
Figure 6: Screen capture of one form of digital object
technology from the IBM Corporation, from
<http://www.infomarket.ibm.com/> in the Fall of
1996.____________________________________________________73
Figure 7: One non-watermarked, and one invisibly
watermarked, images from the DigiMarc Corporation,
from <http://www.digimarc.com/wt_page.html> on
December 12, 1996. _______________________________________79
Figure 8: Screen capture of a visibly watermarked image
from the Corbis Corporation,
<http://www.corbis.com> on December 12, 1996.____________83
Figure 9: Screen capture showing live television broadcast
of a soccer game in Spain, from
<http://www.crtvg.es/tvrede/privideo.htm> on
September 6, 1997.________________________________________88
Figure 10: Screen capture of TotalNews home page, from
<http://www.totalnews.com> on March 9, 1997.____________173
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