New York partner Peter Brown, national leader of Baker Hostetler's Technology Law Practice, co-authors a monthly column on Computer Law for the New York Law Journal which has been published for over two decades. Brown co-authors the column with Richard Raysman of Holland & Knight LLP.
According to the March 9, 2010, column, "Active Inducement in the Post-Grokster World," "Even as worldwide sales of compact discs have declined 30 percent during the last six years, legal music downloading continues to grow . . . Yet, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry estimates that illegal transfers still account for approximately 95 percent of all music downloaded, resulting in no payments for musical artists or recording companies."
Brown and Raysman continue: "In response, copyright holders have sought to curb illegal file-sharing through various methods, including legal action. In 2005, copyright holders achieved a notable victory in the U.S. Supreme Court against the file-sharing network Grokster, with the Court importing the patent law concept of active inducement of infringement into copyright law. Over the past year, courts have issued several major rulings concerning file-sharing networks, both in this country and abroad."
Their article goes on to discusses the theory of active inducement in copyright law, the evolution of P2P technology over the past decade, and recent U.S. and foreign legal decisions and developments impacting copyright holders, file-sharing networks and Internet service providers.
Click to read the full article, "Active Inducement in the Post-Grokster World."