Lecture 7:
Internet Copyright
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Outline
• Digital Millennium Copyright Act
– DeCSS
• Internet copyright cases
• Napster issues
• Digital watermarking
• International copyright
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Effect of the Internet
• Copyright used to be a matter for publishers
• Now everyone can be a publisher
• Reproducing works used to be expensive
• Now it’s cheap, almost zero cost
• Carrying around works used to be difficult
• Now it’s easy
CREATIVE NOMAD
30 GB JUKEBOX
PRICE: $200
HOLDS 8000 SONGS
2.5¢ PER SONG
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Effect of the Internet
• Everything is digital
–
–
–
–
Text, Music
Photographs
Movies, Video
Animation
• Broadband carries huge amounts of copyrighted
content into homes and office
• High-speed wireless brings more content
• National borders are meaningless
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Napster
A
A searches F
--
A downloads F
--
B shares F
B
Napster
--
Napster
B HAS FILE F
F IS OFTEN DIGITAL MUSIC
B IS WILLING TO “SHARE” THE FILE
A HAS FILES TO SHARE ALSO
A
B
F
SOURCE: MICHAL FELDMAN
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Napster
A
A searches F
--
A downloads F
--
B shares F
B
Napster
--
Napster
File index
A
B
A & B JOIN NAPSTER
A & B TELL NAPSTER ABOUT THEIR FILES
NAPSTER MAINTAINS INDEXES
F
SOURCE: MICHAL FELDMAN
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Napster
A
A searches F
--
A downloads F
--
B shares F
B
Napster
--
Napster
A ASKS NAPSTER: WHO HAS FILE F?
Where is F?
A
B
F
SOURCE: MICHAL FELDMAN
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COPYRIGHT © 2004 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS
Napster
A
A searches F
--
A downloads F
--
B shares F
B
Napster
--
Napster
NAPSTER SAYS B HAS FILE F
Where is F?
B has F
A
B
F
SOURCE: MICHAL FELDMAN
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COPYRIGHT © 2004 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS
Napster
A
A searches F
--
A downloads F
--
B shares F
B
Napster
--
Napster
A ASKS B TO SEND FILE F
Where is F?
B has F
A
Get F
F
B
F
SOURCE: MICHAL FELDMAN
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A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc.,
114 F.Supp.2d 896 (N.D. Cal. 2000)
aff’d 239 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir. 2001),
aff’d after remand, 284 F.3d 1091 (9th Cir. 2002)
• Napster distributed file-sharing software and maintained an index of
MP3 music available on various PCs
• Music files were not stored on Napster servers
• Napster knew that large-scale distribution of copyrighted songs was
taking place
• Napster never copied or distributed one song
• Napster is useful for many legal purposes
• A&M Records wanted an injunction
• Held, Napster users engage in direct copyright infringement
• Held, Napster is a contributory infringer. Injunction granted
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UMG Recordings, Inc. v. MP3.com, Inc.,
92 F.Supp.2d 349 (S.D.N.Y. 2000)
• MP3.com maintained a database of MP3s of copyrighted
music constructed from tens of thousands of CDs
• Subscribers could access the MP3s from anywhere in
the world over the net but first:
– Had to prove they already owned the CD by insterting it into their
CD reader for a few seconds; or
– Had to buy the CD from an MP3.com affiliate
• UMG, a copyright owner, sued for infringement
• MP3.com argued fair use. No charge for subscriptions;
users already owned the CDs
• “The complex marvels of cyberspatial communication
may create difficult legal issues; but not in this case.
Defendant's infringement of plaintiff's copyrights is clear.”
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KaZaa
A
S2
S1
A searches F
--
A downloads F
--
B shares F
B
F
B
S1
S2
--
BASED ON “SUPERNODES”
SUPERNODES HAVE HIGH BANDWIDTH
ANYONE CAN BE A SUPERNODE
SUPERNODES ARE NOT CONTROLLED
BY KAZAA
A
SOURCE: MICHAL FELDMAN
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KaZaa
A
S2
S1
--
A downloads F
--
B shares F
B
F
A
A searches F
B
S1
S2
--
A & B DOWNLOAD KaZaa SOFTWARE
A SENDS ITS SUPERNODE HASHED
FILENAMES
B SENDS ITS SUPERNODE HASHED
FILENAMES
SUPERNODES DO NOT KNOW ACTUAL
FILENAMES
SOURCE: MICHAL FELDMAN
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KaZaa
A
S2
S1
A searches F
--
A downloads F
--
B shares F
B
B
S1
S2
--
A ASKS ITS SUPERNODE: WHO HAS F?
F
QUERY
A
SOURCE: MICHAL FELDMAN
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COPYRIGHT © 2004 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS
KaZaa
A
S2
S1
A searches F
--
A downloads F
--
B shares F
B
F
B
S1
S2
--
S1 DOESN’T KNOW
S1 ASKS ITS NEIGHBORS
QUERY
A
SOURCE: MICHAL FELDMAN
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KaZaa
A
S2
A searches F
--
A downloads F
--
B shares F
B
S1
S2
--
QUERY HIT: B has F
S1
B
F
S2 FINDS F IN ITS INDEX
S2 RETURNS THE INFORMATION:
B HAS F
A
SOURCE: MICHAL FELDMAN
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KaZaa
A
S2
A searches F
--
A downloads F
--
B shares F
B
S1
S2
--
QUERY HIT: B has F
S1
B
S1 TELLS A: “B HAS F”
F
A
SOURCE: MICHAL FELDMAN
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COPYRIGHT © 2004 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS
KaZaa
A
S2
S1
--
A downloads F
--
B shares F
B
GET F
A searches F
B
S1
S2
--
A ASKS B TO SEND F
F
A
SOURCE: MICHAL FELDMAN
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Pollstar, Inc. v. Gigmania,
170 F. Supp. 2d 974 (E.D. Cal. 2000)
•
•
•
•
Pollstar is an online index of concerts
Gigmania copied the Pollstar content onto its own site
Pollstar sued for copyright infringement (& other claims)
Gigmania cited Feist, claiming the concert listings have
no originality
• Pollstar said concert listings are not like the white
pages. They have time value from being up-to-date
• No court has yet held that such information is
protectible. Idea: time value does not make originality
• [Gigmania was caught by deliberate false information
posted on Pollstar]
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Digital Millennium Copyright Act
• Copyright Act amendments passed in 1998:
– Circumvention of copy protection mechanisms
– Copyright Management Information (CMI)
– Limited Liability of Online Service Providers (OSPs)
• Penalty:
– First offense: $500K + 5 yrs.
– Second offense: $1M + 10 yrs.
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Liability of Service Providers
• Service provider: “an entity offering the transmission, routing, or
providing of connections for digital online communications, between
or among points specified by a user, of material of the user's
choosing, without modification to the content of the material as sent
or received.”
• Allows:
– Transitory digital network communications
– System caching
– Information residing on systems at the direction of users
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Liability of Service Providers
• Information residing on systems at the direction of
users. SP has no liability if:
– No knowledge of infringement
– No knowledge of facts from which infringement is apparent
– After obtaining knowledge, acts expeditiously to remove
infringing content
– Does not receive direct financial benefit from the infringement
– Has designated an agent to receive notification of infringement
• Take-down provision
– No liability for removing material claimed to be infringing
17 U.S.C. §512
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Liability of Service Providers
• Information location tools. SP has no liability for
“referring or linking users to an online location containing infringing
material or infringing activity, by using information location tools,
including a directory, index, reference, pointer, or hypertext link”
under same conditions as on previous slide
• Subpoena to identify infringer
– “A copyright owner ... may request the clerk of any United
States district court to issue a subpoena to a service provider for
identification of an alleged infringer.”
17 U.S.C. §512
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Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corp.,
114 F.Supp.2d 1116 (C.D. Cal. 1999),
aff’d in part, reversed in part, remanded 280 F.3d 934 (9th Cir. 2002)
• Arriba Soft ran a search engine that displayed images obtained by
spidering the web. It downloaded full-size images, reduced them to
small thumbnails, then discarded full-size. (See, e.g., Google.)
• Users could search for images; Arriba would display thumbnails
• Clicking a thumbnail would access the original web page but
display only the image
• Kelly had copyrighted photos on his website; 35 appeared on Arriba
• “Copyright management information” was on Kelly’s site but was
not displayed by Arriba
• Kelly sued for copyright infringement & violation of the DMCA
• District court held for Kelly; Arriba appealed
• Held, no copyright infringement for the thumbnails
• Reversed, as to infringement of the public display right for the fullsized images
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Copyright Protection Circumvention
• Applies to devices that
– are primarily designed or produced for circumventing;
– have only a limited commercially significant purpose or use
other than to circumvent;
– or are marketed for use in circumventing
• Exceptions
–
–
–
–
–
Reverse engineering
Law enforcement
Encryption research
Protection of minors
Protection of personally identifying information
17 U.S.C. §1201
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The DeCSS Cases
• Hollywood movies are issued on DVD in encrypted form using a
system called CSS (Content Scrambling System)
• Movies can only be played on “authorized” players (ones licensed
to use CSS. Authorized players cannot copy DVDs
• A teenager in Norway (Jon Johansen) figured out how to decrypt
DVDs. He created a program called DeCSS that makes
unencrypted disk files from DVDs
• The unencrypted files can be compressed using a pirated MPEG
codec known as DivX, exchanged over the Internet and played
without a DVD player
• Eric Corley, a New York journalist, posted the source code for
DeCSS on his website, 2600.com and linked to a download site
giving an executable program and decryption instructions
• The movie industry sued Corley in Federal Court (Southern District
of New York) under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (first court
test of the anticircumvention provisions)
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DeCSS Issues
• Is DeCSS a “circumvention device”?
• Does Corley have a First Amendment right (free
speech) to post DeCSS code
• Is Corley a contributory infringer of copyright by
providing DeCSS?
• Is linking to a copy of the code different from posting the
code?
• Every computer program is a number. Does this make
printing the number corresponding to DeCSS illegal?
• Does restricting dissemination of computer source code
inhibit scientific research? See David Touretzky’s site.
DO NOT download or run DeCSS.
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Universal City Studios et al. v. Reimerdes
111 F.Supp.2d 194 (S.D.N.Y. 2000)
aff’d 273 F.3d 429 (2nd Cir. 2001)
•
•
•
•
•
HELD, DMCA is not unconstitutional
DeCSS is a circumvention device
Corley is liable for violations of the DMCA
Corley is enjoined from posting DeCSS
Corley may not link to sites where DeCSS is available
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Copy Protection
• Prevent copying in the first place
– Copy protection systems
– Secure browsers
• Make sure it’s paid for
– IP rights management systems
• Detect copying
– Digital watermarking
– Cybersurveillance
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Digital Watermarks
+
Watermark
Original image
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Watermarked image
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Digital Watermarks
Most transformations do not
affect or obliterate a
spread-spectrum watermark
A big user: Corbis
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Cybersurveillance
Countermeasure:
When Cyveillance visits your site, deliver sanitized pages!
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SOURCE: CYVEILLANCE
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Why Digital Rights Management
Must Fail
• All senses are analog
• Media and the Internet are digital
• Copy protection systems ultimately fail because
– Recording medium is digital
– Must be converted to analog for human sensation
– The analog signal can be copied and re-digitized
• (Fails to stop piracy; succeeds at generating revenue)
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International Copyright
• Fundamental rule: “national treatment”
• Countries that have signed an international
convention (e.g. International Copyright Convention,
Berne Convention)
• Treat foreigners as their own nationals for copyright
purposes
• Problem: cost of enforcement, differing rights
• World Intellectual Property Organization
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International Law
• Example: European law recognizes “moral rights” of
authors:
– right of integrity (protects against mutilation or
destruction)
– right of attribution (“paternité” - right to be given
credit for one's work, and avoid credit for a work
one did not create)
– right of withdrawal (“retrait” - authority to remove
one's works from public circulation)
– droit de suite (the right to collect resale royalties)
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Major Ideas
• The Internet has brought down the value of works
• The cost and ease of copying makes protection of IP
more difficult
• Instrumentation of the Internet makes it easier to
detect violators
• File-sharing is a huge risk to content owners because
it is distributed and difficult to stop
• Alternative: fair pricing of digital content, easy
micropayment collection methods
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Q&A
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