IP Program Roundtable Discussion - Grockster
P2P File Sharing and Copyright Law: Implications of the Grokster Decision
Yesterday (Thursday August 19), the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling that certain P2P file-sharing services, Morpheus and Grokster, are not vicariously or contributorily infringing copyright when their users engage in copyright infringement using these P2P systems. The finding of non-liability for these defendants (unlike the original Napster) is heavily dependent on the structure of the P2P systems in question. This is an extremely important decision, and several members of the IP Faculty (including Professors Dinwoodie, Holbrook, Piatt, Staudt, and Warner) will be leading a roundtable discussion of the case this Wednesday, August 25, from 3:00-4:00 pm, in Room 370. All students and faculty are invited to come along to participate in, or simply listen to, the discussion. Refreshments will be served.
For those of you wishing to read the opinion in advance, you can obtain a copy at: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/0355894P.pdf
You can also find some news coverage at http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,64640,00.html and http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-5316570.html
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