Fergie's Tech Blog

EFF Requests Leave to Serve Amicus Curiae Brief in Elektra v. Barker

Ray Beckerman writes on The Recording Industry vs. The People blog:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has requested permission to file an amicus curiae brief in support defendant's motion to dismiss complaint in Elektra v. Barker.

February 15, 2006, Letter of Fred von Lohmann. [.pdf]

The proposed amicus brief would deal solely with the issue of "whether the "distribution right" granted to copyright owners by 17 U.S.C. § 106(3) encompasses transmissions over computer networks." In its letter, EFF said:

Plaintiffs in their opposition brief argue that their § 106(3) rights encompass such transmissions. However, the plain language of the Copyright Act - as well as legislative history, historical practice, and binding Second Circuit precedent -requires that a physical, tangible, material object change hands before the distribution right can be infringed. Accordingly, the § 106(3) right simply has no application in P2P file-sharing cases, as no physical object changes hands when individuals upload or download music over the Internet.

posted by Fergie @ 2/15/2006 04:58:00 PM