Cohen | Okediji | O'Rourke | Loren
Copyright in a Global Information Economy

In the prior two chapters, the casebook has focused on the balance between the numerous rights afforded to copyright holders and the limitations on those rights. This system has been a traditional part of U.S. copyright law for centuries, designed to further to Constitutional policy of promoting progress. Generally, as new technology develops, it disturbs the balance, usually by providing new ways to copy and distribute protected works. Copyright holders often respond by asking Congress to create new rights or expand existing protections. The advent of computers and the Internet has not only raised new methods of copying, but also new methods of copy protection meaning that content providers are no longer so reliant on Congressional action. This chapter begins the look at these extra-copyright means of protection as well as the controversies surrounding them.

This chapter contains the following decisions, listed in the order they are presented in the text. Click on any case name to see background information as well as the full court opinion.

1. The Evolution of the Technological Protection Debate
2. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act and Circumvention of Technological Protections
   1. Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Reimerdes
3. Authorized Versus Unauthorized Access and Interoperable Products
1. Chamberlain Group Inc., v. Skylink Tech., Inc.,
2. Lexmark Int'l, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc.
4. Protection for Copyright Management Information
1. Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corp.
5. Converging Technologies: Digital Television and the Broadcast Flag