Cybertelecom :: Intellectual Property (Copyright, Trademark, Patents)

The Congress shall have Power . . . To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries . . .
-- Article I, Section 8, U.S. Constitution

I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone.
- Jack Valenti, Then President of the Motion Picture Association of America, before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties and the Administration of Justice, (1982).

Pop quiz! What was the first legal conflict on the Internet? If you paid attention to the headlines, what might come to mind is censorship and the Communications Decency Act. However, outside the criminal charges brought in relationship to the Morris Worm, the first great legal conflicts on the Internet dealt with Intellectual Property (IP), not censorship. [Netcom] If the Internet can be said to be a "disruptive technology," it disrupted intellectual property like a freight train going through a house of cards factory. While effective and decisive Congressional action responsive to other legal concerns might be lacking (see Gambling), Congressional action to protect copyright holders has been consistently swift and direct. Congress has passed the No Electronic Theft Act, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and the AntiCybersquatters Protection Act; the amount of additional legislation that has been proposed by Congress has been bountiful.

The other IP (not Internet Protocol) has been a central driver of legal confrontation in Internet arenas. The beginning was in 1994 with the Scientology litigations. [Netcom] [FactNet] IP came to dominate DNS policy, leading to a preoccupation with trademark rights over all other interests. Feeling overwhelmed by the new digital world, it led copyright owners to push for a radical revision of copyright law: the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. It created a conflict between traditional content creators and new radio stations, webcasters, who defied "scarce radio spectrum" and anemic top forty programming, to bring true alternative programming to unique audiences anywhere at any time. Finally, it created a tension for digital rights management, with the broadband infrastructure vendors screaming that killer content was needed to drive broadband deployment and content owners screaming that content would not be released until there was some assurance that the gigantic copying machine known as the Internet, also known as such peer-to-peer applications as Napster, was tamed and controlled. [Napster]

"Intellectual property is any innovation, commercial or artistic, or any unique name, symbol, logo or design used commercially.

Intellectual property is protected by

patents on inventions;
trademarks on branding devices;
copyrights on music, videos, patterns and other forms of expression;
trade secrets for methods or formulas having economic value and used commercially."

- Intellectual Property, What is It? StopFakes.gov

Laws

Copyright Offenses
17 U.S.C. 506 Copyright Theft
18 U.S.C. 2319 Copyright Theft
18 U.S.C. 2318

Copyright Management Offenses
17 U.S.C. 1201 Circumvention
17 U.S.C. 1202
17 U.S.C. 1203
17 U.S.C. 1204
17 U.S.C. 1205

Bootlegging Offenses
18 U.S.C. 2319A

Trademark
15 U.S.C. § 1051

Trademark Offenses
18 U.S.C. 2320

Trade Secret Offenses
18 U.S.C. 1831 Economic Espionage Act
18 U.S.C. 1832
18 U.S.C. 1833
18 U.S.C. 1834
18 U.S.C. 1835
18 U.S.C. 1836
18 U.S.C. 1837
18 U.S.C. 1838
18 U.S.C. 1839

Offenses Relating to the Integrity of IP Systems
17 U.S.C. 506(c-d)
17 U.S.C. 506(e)
18 U.S.C. 497
35 U.S.C. 292

Offenses Relating to the Misuse of Dissemination Systems
18 U.S.C. 1341
18 U.S.C. 1343
18 U.S.C. 2512
47 U.S.C. 553
47 U.S.C. 605

Trademark law falls under the jurisdiction of the Patent and Trademark Office.

Importation or Exportation of intellectual property falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Customs Service, US Customs Cybersmuggling Center.

Gen Proceedings

Status

Proceeding

Resource

Comments Due June 19

The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is requesting comment on new proposed regulations that set rates and terms for the use of sound recordings in eligible nonsubscription transmissions, such as those that occur over the Internet, and for the use of sound recordings by new subscription services.

Fed Reg Notice

Comments Due June 2

The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is requesting comment on proposed regulations that set rates and terms for the use of sound recordings in eligible nonsubscription transmissions for the 2003 and 2004 statutory licensing period, and for the use of sound recordings in transmissions made by new subscription services from 1998 through December 31, 2004, in addition to the making of ephemeral recordings necessary for the facilitation of such transmissions. The rates and terms do not pertain to the use of sound recordings in digital transmissions of simulcasts of AM and FM radio broadcast programming (including transmissions or retransmissions thereof by third parties), transmissions made by certain noncommercial entities, and small commercial webcasters who elect to operate under an agreement negotiated pursuant to the Small Webcasters Settlement Act of 2002.

Fed Reg Notice

Intellectual Property

Laws

Gen Proceedings

Federal Activity

Digital Phonorecord Delivery

Performance Rights Organizations

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