Understanding Intellectual Property Rights

• Intellectual property (IP) encompasses creations of the mind, including inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, symbols, and names used in commerce.
• Information technology has increased access to intellectual property, however illegal copying is pervasive.
• IP protection incentivizes creators and companies to invest in new products.
• The internet facilitates the global and rapid sharing of illegal copies of digital content.

Intellectual Property Rights

• Intellectual property rights extend beyond physical property to cover creations of the mind.
• John Locke’s theory states people have a natural right to their property, including their labor and creations from nature.
• Intellectual property differs from physical property because it is not depleted when shared.
• Intellectual property protection balances societal benefit and encourages innovation through temporary protection.
• Works in the public domain benefit society the most.

Protecting Intellectual Property

• Trade secrets are confidential information providing a competitive edge, they never expire, but can be compromised.
• Trademarks and service marks protect brand names, logos, or symbols identifying goods or services and do not expire unless the brand name becomes a common noun.
• Patents grant an inventor exclusive rights to make, use, or sell their invention for 20 years, requiring a detailed description of the invention.
• Copyright protects original works, providing the owner with rights to reproduction, distribution, public display, public performance, and creation of derivative works.
• Copyright-related industries contribute about 6% of the U.S. GDP.
• Copyright protection has expanded, now extending to 95 years or more, since the first Copyright Act in 1790, which initially provided 28 years of protection.

Key Legal Cases

• Gershwin Publishing v. Columbia Artists resulted in Columbia Artists being held liable for copyright infringement for supporting community concert associations that violated copyrights.
• No Electronic Theft Act (NET Act) criminalizes the reproduction or distribution of more than $1,000 worth of copyrighted material within six months, even without financial profit.

Fair Use

• Fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission under certain circumstances.
• Courts consider factors such as the purpose and character of the use, nature of the copyrighted work, amount of the work used, and effect on the market for the original work.

Key Cases

• Sony v. Universal City Studios: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that recording TV shows for later viewing is fair use, a precedent for personal use of media.
• Kelly v. Arriba Soft: Ruled that using copyrighted photos as thumbnails in a search engine was transformative and therefore fair use.
• Authors Guild v. Google: Google’s project to scan millions of books was found to be fair use because it made books searchable and provided links to purchase them, stimulating the book market.

Digital Media

• Digital Rights Management (DRM) prevents unauthorized copying of digital content through encryption and digital watermarks, controlling how digital media is accessed, shared, and copied.
• Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) prohibits the circumvention of DRM systems, even for fair use purposes.
• DRM undermines fair use by preventing personal copies and can reduce competition by locking consumers into ecosystems.
• Companies like Apple and Amazon dropped DRM restrictions due to consumer complaints, allowing more freedom to share purchased content.

Sony BMG Rootkit Scandal:

• Sony shipped millions of CDs with DRM that secretly installed rootkits on users' computers to prevent copying, leading to public backlash and compensation for affected users.

Peer-to-Peer Networks and Cyberlockers

• Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks allow users to share files directly between computers, often facilitating the sharing of copyrighted materials.
• Cyberlockers are cloud-based file-hosting services used for uploading and downloading files, sometimes facilitating the sharing of copyrighted materials.

Notable Legal Cases

• RIAA v. Grokster: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that companies encouraging copyright infringement by their users could be held liable.
• BitTorrent is a P2P protocol for sharing large files by breaking them into smaller pieces.

Protections for Software

• Software Copyright protects the expression of ideas in a program, but not the idea itself.
• Only object code (machine-readable code) is copyrightable, while source code (human-readable code) is often treated as a trade secret.
• Software Patents protect new, non-obvious inventions.
• Critics argue that software patents stifle innovation, as companies build stockpiles to protect against lawsuits.

Key Court Cases

• Apple v. Franklin: The court ruled that object programs are copyrightable.
• Sega v. Accolade: The court allowed reverse engineering of software to determine technical specifications under fair use.
• Oracle v. Google: Google’s use of Java APIs in its Android operating system was ruled as copyright infringement.

Legitimacy of Intellectual Property Protection for Software

• Rights-based argument says programmers deserve rewards for their labor.
• Critics argue that labor does not necessarily imply ownership.
• Utilitarian Argument: Copying software reduces sales and revenue for developers, leading to less innovation.
• Not everyone who copies software would have bought it.
• The open-source movement shows that many developers work without expecting monetary rewards.

Open-Source Software

• Open-source software is freely distributed with the source code included, allowing others to modify, use, and redistribute it without restrictions.
• Open-source encourages innovation and collaboration.
• Open-source results in new versions of software appearing more frequently.
• Open-source reduces tension between obeying the law and helping others.
• Programs belong to the entire community, rather than being controlled by a single company.

Examples of Open-Source Software

• Linux is a free, open-source operating system widely used in servers, desktops, and supercomputers.
• Apache is a popular open-source web server.
• Android is based on Linux

Creative Commons

• Creative Commons (CC) is an alternative to traditional copyright, allowing creators to specify how others can use their work without needing direct permission.
• Creative Commons simplifies content sharing and reuse, fostering a collaborative culture while protecting creators' rights.
• Flickr hosts millions of photos licensed under Creative Commons