Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act
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The Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act, often abbreviated to just INDUCE Act, is a bill introduced in the United States Senate which targets "who[m]ever intentionally induces any violation" of copyright. The name came from an earlier version named the "Inducement Devolves into Unlawful Child Exploitation Act." On June 17, 2004, CNET's Declan McCullagh was the first major journalist to cover the controversial bill.
The Act would amend title 17 of the United States Code which is related to copyrights, by adding a subsection to the end of section 501. The subsection would state the following.
Whoever intentionally induces any violation identified in subsection (a) of this section shall be liable as an infringer. In subsection (g), "intentionally induces" means intentionally aids, abets, induces, counsels, or procures, and intent may be shown by acts from which a reasonable person would find intent to induce infringement based upon all relevant information about such acts then reasonably available to the actor, including whether the activity relies on infringement for its commercial viability. Nothing in this section shall enlarge or diminish the doctrines of vicarious or contributory liability for copyright infringement or require any court to unjustly withhold or impose any secondary liability for copyright infringement.
The bill is broad and could lead to prosecution of peer to peer software makers, web sites or the overturning of home recording and fair use rights pioneered by the famous Betamax case. Many critics fear that certain tools used today (such as CD ripping and burning software) could be considered to "intentionally induce" copyright violations, despite their utility for fair use purposes.
The bill is sponsored by former Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, a Republican senator from Utah, though it also has support from other Democrats and Republicans, including
- Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont
- Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, Senate Majority Leader
- Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina
- Barbara Boxer, D-California
See also
- Benefit Authors without Limiting Advancement or Net Consumer Expectations (BALANCE) Act of 2003
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act
- The "No Electronic Theft" (NET) Act
- Pirate Act
External links
- Current text of the INDUCE Act (http://legalminds.lp.findlaw.com/list/cyberia-l/msg45060.html)
- Coverage by CNET's Declan McCullagh (http://news.com.com/Senate+bill+bans+P2P+networks/2100-1027_3-5244796.html)
- Yale's Law Meme on INDUCE (http://research.yale.edu/lawmeme/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1549)
- Save the iPod (http://savetheipod.com)
- Slashdot article (http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/07/22/2224236&tid=116&tid=153&tid=103), Copyright Bill could Stifle Innovation
- ... and another Slashdot article (http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/04/07/23/1742259.shtml), Hatch Pushes INDUCE Act
- Corante's "Obsessively Annotated Introduction to the INDUCE Act" (http://www.corante.com/importance/archives/004563.html)
- EFF's mock Induce complaint against Apple Computer et al. (http://www.eff.org/IP/Apple_Complaint.php)
The Register
- Dirty rotten indcers - the law the IT world deserves? (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/26/hatch_induce_act/)
- Consumer groups rally against Hatch's Induce Act (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/01/fax_back_against_induce/)
- Hatch's Induce Act comes under fire (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/06/inducement_bill_under_fire/)
- RIAA praises 'magnificent' P2P (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/16/bainwol_induce_letter/) Then asks Senate to kill it
- Induce Act tweaks fail to stem concern (http://www.theregister.com/2004/09/27/induce_act_tweaked/)