Women in Technology

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Article:		Grokking Grokster
Subject:		the clear difference
Date:		2005-07-13 23:43:15
From:		jwenting

Sony never advertised their device for the specific use of copying commercially available tapes, which is clearly infringement. They marketed the device for taping TV shows for later viewing or reviewing, which was decided is fair use. Grokster OTOH specifically marketed their software for the purpose of sharing copyrighted material with others, which clearly is infringement and doesn't fall under fair use. Sony is about the possible use of the device, and was applied clearly in this case in that the court ruled that the software itself was not in violation of any law. Grokster is about a company's marketing and use of their product. The court has now decided that by marketing a product specifically for illegal activity the company makes itself responsible for said illegal activity as they are explicitly inciting customers to perform said illegal activity. Sony never did that, Grokster did. The fears of some that this might mean endless litigation against gun manufacturers (for example) doesn't hold ground as those companies don't market their products for the purpose of murder or holdups. Were they to do so they could under this ruling be held responsible but as it stands they cannot (and rightly so).

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Maybe not that clear a difference.
2005-07-14 00:08:30 quinnums [View]

This very illuminating post by Rebecca Tushnet (http://www.scotusblog.com/discussion/archives/2005/06/more_questions.html) , who once clerked for Souter, pointed out that in fact Sony *did* advertise what was held to be an infringing use. She further points out that Apple could be seen to induce as much as Grokster or Sony with the "Rip Mix Burn" campaign- remember, that campaign came out before the iTunes music store. This case is about more than marketing. It comes through in the opinion that marketing matters, but only in a greater context. The murkiness comes from not having a clear understanding of what that greater context is.

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