6.805/6.805/STS085 Week 9

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT 6.805/6.806/STS085: Ethics and Law on the Electronic Frontier
Fall Semester, 2003
Class 9 -- Week of class on October 30

In class this week

This week continues our background in copyright law with a focus on fair use (the Sony case) and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Readings to do before class:

Read (and brief for yourself) Sony Corporation of America v. Universal City Studios, 464 US 417 (1984). This is a long, complex decision, but read it carefully. Pay particular attention to Justice Blackmun's dissent, and to the various intepretations of fair use. Note that the Court's ruling here was 5 to 4.

Read the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, with special attention to the anticircumvention provisions in section 103. You can also find this, as enacted into law, in the US code, Title 17, Chapter 12.
Read the District Court opinion (PDF) and final judgement (Aug. 2000) in Universal Studios v. Reimerdes.
Read the Appeals Court decision (Nov. 2001) in Universal Studios v. Reimerdes.

Final paper

This week's rotisserie assignment began a series of writing assignments devoted to preparing your final paper. For next week you are to state a thesis for your paper. Look here for information on the paper and on this first assignment.