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40 Colum. J.L. & Soc. Probs. 1 (2006-2007)
Secondary Liability for Copyright Infringement: BitTorrent as a Vehicle for Establishing a New Copyright Definition for Staple Articles of Commerce

handle is hein.journals/collsp40 and id is 13 raw text is: Secondary Liability for Copyright Infringement: BitTorrent as a Vehicle for Establishing a New Copyright Definition for Staple Articles of Commerce MATTHEW HELTON* As broadband Internet access has become widespread, more and more Internet users are using modern peer-to-peer applications to illegally share copyrighted materials. BitTorrent is one example of a modern peer-to-peer application that can be used to transfer large amounts of data quickly and at a low cost. Peer-to-peer file sharing is estimated to cost Hollywood billions of dollars annually, yet few creators or distributors of these applications have been held liable under either traditional doctrines of secondary liability for copyright infringement or the inducement theory recently adopted by the Supreme Court. Additionally, the staple article of commerce doctrine articulated by the Supreme Court as a defense against contributory copyright infringement is inadequate to protect the rights of copyright holders in a digital world in which peer-to-peer applications enable individuals to make an unauthorized duplication of copyrighted work and subsequently to distribute hundreds of thousands of copies of that work worldwide. This Note proposes that the doctrine be revised to require an individual or company to employ reasonable methods to prevent copyright infringement in order to avail itself of this defense and be protected from lawsuits for contributing to large-scale copyright infringement. * Writing & Research Editor, COLUM. J.L. & SOC. PROBS., 2006-2007. The author thanks Hillel Parness for his invaluable suggestions.

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