July 20, 1998
Contact:
Press Contact: Craig D'Ooge (202) 707-9189
Report on Future of Copyright in a Networked World
The Copyright Office today released a report titled "Project
Looking Forward- Sketching the Future of Copyright in a Networked
World." The report, commissioned from Professor I. Trotter Hardy,
is part of a continuing effort by the Copyright Office to examine
the future of the Internet and related digital communications
technologies, and to identify the legal and policy issues that
might arise as a result.
The Internet and other digital technologies raise new issues
for copyright law because they permit new ways of creating, using,
and duplicating works of authorship. The report describes three
"patterns" that arise as copyright law confronts changing
technology: new subject matter, new uses, and decentralized
infringement. The report finds that decentralized infringement -
where copies can be made cheaply and distributed widely by
individuals, as is possible on the Internet - presents the most
significant challenge today for copyright law's accommodation of
new technologies. In spite of these challenges, the report
concludes that copyright law has had a long history of adapting to
technological advances, and that the possibilities of digital
exploitation will not render copyright law obsolete.
The report presents a thorough explanation of the Internet as
it works today, and describes how it will likely evolve. It then
examines the legal issues raised by some of the features of
digital technologies, such as Web posting, caching, and RAM
copying. Besides these issues, which are widely recognized and
discussed today, the report also addresses less commonly discussed
issues. The report describes as "tomorrow's issues" such topics
as non- public posting, protection of factual information on Web
sites, Internet broadcasting, computer-generated works, and
metered use of information.
I. Trotter Hardy is a Professor of Law at the College of
William and Mary School of Law. He specializes in intellectual
property law as it relates to copyright, computers and other
technologies, and has written numerous articles on these issues.
The report is available on the Web site of the U.S. Copyright
Office at http://www.loc.gov/copyright/ under the heading "What's New."
After mid-August, copies of the report also will be available for
purchase for $23 through the Government Printing Office at (202)
512-1800. Please refer to stock number 030-002-00191-8.
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PR 98-111
7/20/98
ISSN 0731-3527