INFO/NYT: IP-based lawsuits directed against online music/film distribution from David P. Dillard on 2000-01-24 (CNI-COPYRIGHT)

From: David P. Dillard <jwne[_at_]astro.ocis.temple.edu>
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2000 09:41:55 -0500 (EST)

REGARDING A NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE WITH LINK AND EXCERPT BELOW: Three lawsuits filed last week are directed at digital and MP3 distribution of traditional media over the internet. The traditional industries are concerned about the movement of distribution channels to electronic, online and internet methods that may greatly reduce the market share that remains for traditional retail methods of media distribution or worse. The lawsuits are directed at copyright and intellectual property issues. Mark Lemley, from whom there is an extensive quote in this article and an excerpt of that quote below, is a valuable and frequent contributor to the CNI-Copyright discussion group that provides an ongoing forum for discussion of copyright law, new legislation, litigation and issues.

Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204-4584
jwne[_at_]astro.temple.edu

Source: New York Times (NYT)
Author: SARA ROBINSON
Title: 3 Copyright Lawsuits Test Limits of New Digital Media Source Date: January 24, 2000
Resource Type: News Article
Description/Keywords: Copyright, Traditional Distribution Channels, Digital Distribution Channels, Media, Intellectual Property Rights, Lawsuits, Litigation, MP3, Digital Millennium Copyright Act, DVD URL: Listed Below Article Summary

January 24, 2000

          3 Copyright Lawsuits Test Limits of New
          Digital Media
          By SARA ROBINSON

A flurry of court activities last week revealed a growing conflict between the entertainment industry, which is struggling to protect its products and profits in the Internet age, and consumer groups, which accuse the industry of interfering with free speech and people's rights to control their watching or listening experience.

The digital media market is still small compared to traditional media, but record companies, film studios and publishers are preparing for what they see as an inevitable migration of entertainment online.

Three lawsuits in play last week all dealt with different aspects of protecting copyrighted works. But at the heart of each is the question of what framework will govern the distribution of digital content. It will fall to the courts to set the scope and application of existing copyright laws -- both new laws and those enacted long before the Internet -- to digital content.

"What's really going on in these legal skirmishes is a broader conflict between traditional means of media distribution and digital means," said Mark Lemley, a professor specializing in Internet law at the University of California at Berkeley.

Web Sites Related to This Article:

Recording Industry Association of America http://www.riaa.org/

MP3.com
http://www.mp3.com/

Motion Picture Association of America
http://www.mpaa.org/

RealNetworks Inc.
http://www.real.com/

Streambox Inc.
http://www.streambox.com/

Microsoft
http://www.microsoft.com/