6.912: Introduction to Copyright Law

IAP 2006
Keith Winstein
keithw(at)mit.edu

• Here's a Lexis-Nexis handout you may find helpful.

• Please read these cases to discuss in class on Thursday:
  • Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co., 499 U.S. 340 (1991)
  • Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 U.S. 569 (1994)
  • On Command Video Corp. v. Columbia Pictures Industries, 777 F. Supp. 787 (N.D. Cal. 1991)
  • Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U.S. 417 (1984)

• (Remember, just type the middle part of the citation (e.g., "499 U.S. 340") into the "Get a Case" citation field in Lexis-Nexis to call up the opinion.)

• If you'd like to borrow a DVD of the first class, just let me know.

• Go to Lexis-Nexis, "Legal Research," then "Federal Code," and finally "Guided Search." (That will take you to this form.)

• Search for "17 uscs" in "Cite." This will pull up the entire Copyright Act.

• Read the following sections of the statute. (If the section seems to go on and on, just read the first few subsections. You may find it helpful to look back at the definitions in section 101.)
  • 106 (core rights),
  • 106A (limited moral rights),
  • 107 (fair use),
  • 109 (first sale),
  • 110 (exempt performances),
  • 115 only read subsections (a) and (b) (musical "covers"),
  • 117 (computer programs),
  • 302 (duration of copyright),
  • 401 (copyright notice),
  • 411 (registration),
  • 504 (damages for infringement), and
  • 506 (criminal violations, including LaMacchia Law).

• For each of these twelve sections, write a little summary (between one and three sentences) to yourself explaining the gist of the section. For example:

  Section 115. This section allows musicians to record and distribute "covers" of songs without having to get permission, as long as another recording of the song has already been legitimately distributed. For example, when Madonna released her version of "American Pie" in 2000, she didn't need Don McLean's permission. She just had to pay him about 8 cents (a government-set price) per copy sold.

• Read 17 U.S.C. § 512. (Remember: use "17 uscs sec 512".)
• Read Recording Industry Ass'n of America v. Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc., 180 F.3d 1072 (9th Cir. 1999).
• Read Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Corley, 273 F.3d 429 (2d Cir. 2001).
• Read Chamberlain Group, Inc. v. Skylink Technologies, Inc., 381 F.3d 1178 (Fed. Cir. 2004).
• Read Jonathan Zittrain's essay, "The Copyright Cage," in legalaffairs magazine.

Optional readings:

• David Nimmer, Codifying Copyright Comprehensibly, 51 UCLA L. Rev. 1233 (2004) (From Lexis-Nexis Academic, go to "Legal Research," then "Law Reviews," then "Guided Search," and search for "51 UCLA L. Rev. 1233" in "Citation." Set the date field to "All available dates.") This is a fantastic article about the entire Copyright Act.

• David Nimmer, Appreciating Legislative History: The Sweet and Sour Spots of the DMCA's Commentary, 23 Cardozo L. Rev. 909 (2002), available at http://www.cardozo.yu.edu/cardlrev/pdf/233Nimmer.pdf

• David Nimmer, "Fairest of them All" and Other Fairy Tales of Fair Use, 66 Law & Contemp. Probs. 263 (2003), available with chart at http://www.law.duke.edu/journals/lcp/articles/lcp66dWinterSpring2003p263.htm.