Let's Go Congress
With Viacom suing Google’s YouTube for over $1 billion, the drum beats louder for corrective legislation in Congress.
Google almost certainly believed that it had the safe harbor of the law. The law Google relied on protects companies if they take down copyrighted works when they learn of unauthorized postings. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court’s Grokster case added a new factor that added to potential liability: an “induce” test making any manufacturer or service provider potentially liable for innovative products and services.
Under this “induce” standard, anyone can be sued for inducing a copyright violation. The Viacom lawsuit says Google induced copyright violations. It is another example of how the content community uses the unbalanced copyright laws rather than the marketplace to deal with the fact that technology changes how companies do business.
Fortunately, Congressman Rick Boucher (D-Va.) has introduced bi-partisan legislation that would reduce copyright penalties for unwillful infringements, codify the Sony Betamax doctrine and clarify that consumers have certain rights — even to break a copyright protection scheme to exercise defined fair use rights. HR 1201m deserves the support of everyone in the industry and its passage is an important priority for CEA.
Every industry player should sign up with the Digital Freedom campaign and do what it takes to get this bill passed. www.digitalfreedom.org.
