Re: Digital Transmission

On 4/29/97, Leo Smith <barter[_at_]ntplx.net> wrote:
>
> The transmission of digits raises some interesting copyright issues.
> At the time of transmission via modem, only digits are transmitted
> from the sending computer to the receiving computer.
>
> 1) Can anyone copyright a series of digits?

     In view of the various cases upholding copyright protection for object code (a series of 1s and 0s), I would say yes, so long as the series of digits is sufficiently original. One could not copyright "1234567890," or the Fibbonacci sequence "1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34," etc., but the binary digits that are generated by the translation of an original work into binary form would be copyrightable.

> 2) Can the party transmitting the digital signals be libel [sic] for
> any infringement claim if no proof exists that a receiving party also
> converted the digits into a copyrighted form?

     If we assume that the digital signals being transmitted did not originate with the party transmitting them in your hypothetical, then the party transmitting them would probably violate both the reproduction right and the distribution right, and perhaps also the public performance or display right if the work was transmitted to more than a limited group of people. Since a sequence of digits is copyrightable, the rights are violated by the transmission and reception alone, without any conversion.

> 3) If a sender transmits via modem encrypted digital signals that when
> decrypted represent a copyrighted work, and if that encryption cannot
> be decyphered by the copyright holder, then are the copyright holder's
> rights successfully thwarted?

Temporarily, since the copyright holder cannot demonstrate that the work is his or hers. But if the copyright holder can find the un-encrypted work on either the sender or receiver's computer, that would probably supply enough proof to eliminate the need for decryption.

Tyler T. Ochoa
Assistant Professor
Whittier Law School
tochoa[_at_]law.whittier.edu Received on Wed Apr 30 1997 - 19:09:28 GMT