The much-discussed unanimous decision by the high court doesn’t tell us anything we don’t already know.
Justice David Souter, in writing the opinion for the Court for MGM vs Grokster et al, said that the file-sharing service promoted its service with the intent that it be used to get around copyright laws.
The decision sends the lawsuit back to the lower courts for further action. Film and music industry concerns have been rejoicing about the opportunity to work on legal file-sharing services, civil liberties advocates have been complaining about the chilling effect on innovation. Et cetera, et cetera.
Please. Everyone, from the MPAA to the EFF, how about if we all take a break for a few minutes. Let’s take a moment to look at a bit of Justice Souter’s opinion:
We hold that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties.
To wit, the Court’s opinion is that Grokster et al have promoted their services to users for the purpose of infringing copyright, and that they are liable for the infringement committed by their users.
The decision doesn’t make file-sharing illegal. That’s the issue which the Court has neatly sidestepped while kicking Grokster back to the lower court. It’s already illegal to pirate movies and software, and other copyrighted material. Surely everyone has seen the warnings at the beginning of a movie, or in a software license agreement at some point?
Promoting that piracy opens a service to claims for damages by copyright holders. That’s the revelation of the Court’s opinion. Well, that and Justice Souter being down with Modest Mouse, too. Could it lead to further action against file-sharing services?
Only the future will tell, but as of yesterday, services that do not promote themselves as an easy way to commit IP theft aren’t on the hook for their users’ actions. At least, that’s the way I read it.
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
