Copyright law is supposed to work the same on the Internet as it does in the
more tangible worlds of print and the fine arts. However, once works are put
into digital form and uploaded into cyberspace, keeping track of copyright ownership
and enforcing copyright becomes difficult.
Works cast in digital form can more easily be copied and modified than when
they exist on paper or canvas, and it can be difficult to know when the line between
copyright violation and permissible copying of ideas has been crossed.
Also, once a work is posted on the Internet, it can simultaneously be copied by
millions of users in many different countries, even if the copying is illegal. There
is no practical way to reassert control over the work so that the copyright can be
meaningfully enforced.
In an attempt to establish some regulation and predictability for copyrights on
the Internet, Congress enacted the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
Among other things, the DMCA prohibits circumvention of digital antipiracy devices
and the removal of secret codes known as digital watermarks from digital
files. The DMCA also limits liability for companies that provide access to the
Internet (Internet Service Providers—ISPs) in the event that an infringing copy is
offered online. In addition, the DMCA establishes licensing standards by which
companies can webcast music (broadcast over the Internet).
Despite passage of the DMCA, technology has continued to outpace copyright
legislation, and new, unresolved issues have emerged in cyberspace such as
linking, framing, and file sharing. For example, website owners may be liable as copyright infringers for creating links to infringing materials. One company ran
into problems when framing—placing the contents of one website within a
frame of another website—because the process resulted in the creation of a derivative
work. Downloading music, particularly through the use of an Internet
technology known as MP3, has triggered litigation and debate as to what constitutes
infringement and fair use. In a case that awakened the world to the issue of
copyright law, Napster, a website that provides file sharing of MP3 files, was
sued by the recording industry in 2000. The company was forced to modify its
methods of providing file sharing in 2001, eventually folded and later emerged
as a paid service.
A similar result occurred when, in 2001, a programmer was prevented from distributing
code that circumvented DVD technology allowing computer users to
copy DVDs.
more tangible worlds of print and the fine arts. However, once works are put
into digital form and uploaded into cyberspace, keeping track of copyright ownership
and enforcing copyright becomes difficult.
Works cast in digital form can more easily be copied and modified than when
they exist on paper or canvas, and it can be difficult to know when the line between
copyright violation and permissible copying of ideas has been crossed.
Also, once a work is posted on the Internet, it can simultaneously be copied by
millions of users in many different countries, even if the copying is illegal. There
is no practical way to reassert control over the work so that the copyright can be
meaningfully enforced.
In an attempt to establish some regulation and predictability for copyrights on
the Internet, Congress enacted the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
Among other things, the DMCA prohibits circumvention of digital antipiracy devices
and the removal of secret codes known as digital watermarks from digital
files. The DMCA also limits liability for companies that provide access to the
Internet (Internet Service Providers—ISPs) in the event that an infringing copy is
offered online. In addition, the DMCA establishes licensing standards by which
companies can webcast music (broadcast over the Internet).
Despite passage of the DMCA, technology has continued to outpace copyright
legislation, and new, unresolved issues have emerged in cyberspace such as
linking, framing, and file sharing. For example, website owners may be liable as copyright infringers for creating links to infringing materials. One company ran
into problems when framing—placing the contents of one website within a
frame of another website—because the process resulted in the creation of a derivative
work. Downloading music, particularly through the use of an Internet
technology known as MP3, has triggered litigation and debate as to what constitutes
infringement and fair use. In a case that awakened the world to the issue of
copyright law, Napster, a website that provides file sharing of MP3 files, was
sued by the recording industry in 2000. The company was forced to modify its
methods of providing file sharing in 2001, eventually folded and later emerged
as a paid service.
A similar result occurred when, in 2001, a programmer was prevented from distributing
code that circumvented DVD technology allowing computer users to
copy DVDs.
