Course Overview/Outline (to be updated)
E-Books, YouTube & More:
Innovation & Creativity on the Internet
Steve Davis
steve@stevebdavis.com
206-335-9559
Course Description / Goals
It is hard to imagine the world before the Internet, before you could immediately access information about any subject from diverse sources around the world, before you could connect with old friends on Facebook, or shop for books, cars and homes from your kitchen table, before you could download books onto your e-reader, or find nearly any song ever recorded the moment you want, or waste time watching YouTube videos. But recall that the Netscape browser, which essentially enabled the commercial Internet and text-based websites and search, was launched less than 20 years ago. Streaming digital audio was introduced less than 15 years ago, peer-to-peer file sharing of content – courtesy of Napster – less than ten. Google emerged as the dominant search tool less than ten years ago, YouTube was launched in 2005 and Facebook began to gain traction a mere three years ago, back in the days when a tweet was something only birds could do In the last year we have watched the rapid success of new media and communication tools like Twitter and Hulu, while traditional (aka “old”) means of delivery, such as newspapers, are fighting for survival in a digital world.
The speed at which innovation and creativity, driven by individuals not just large companies, is occurring is mind-boggling, and it will not slow down. Well, some would argue, that it can only be slowed by corporate interests, using the existing legal regime, to protect current business models involving control of intellectual property from the threat posed by innovation and creativity. Others suggest that it is only because of these legal regimes that innovators and entrepreneurs have the ability to create new models with a clear understanding of the risks and rewards they will enjoy.
As a result, one of the most visible, challenging and inherently interesting debates law, policy and business today emerges around the question of who owns and has the right to control intellectual property and content in the digital ecosystem today, and the relationship to ownership and control of that content to innovation in society. Simply put, many are asking whether copyright is the enemy of innovation in the digital world, or not.
These are not new questions, but their implications and the ways in which the answers may evolve in the future are changing. Important cases such as Napster and Grokster, among others, have set some standards for us to follow – for now. But in more fundamental ways, practical questions surrounding the use and control of videos, music, pictures and text online are far from resolved, and the early case law surrounding these emerging questions only form part of a larger puzzle. There are policy questions, business standards and even social practices that eventually will define the ownership, control and access to content and information distributed through the Internet.
The emergent “grand debate” in the “creativity 3.0” world is whether in this era of new technology, tools and platforms for distributing media, the current legal vehicles and standards of copyright are adequate to continue the long-standing constitutional balancing between protection and reward to the creator, and the public’s interest in knowledge and access.
This course will examine different stakeholders’ points of view on this important debate, with the goal of developing some rationale and defensible outcomes, and a way forward for both creators and technology innovators.
While we will require some case readings, our focus will be more on policy discussions, practical business analyses and press coverage on this topic. We will spend a significant amount of time trying to understand the business interests and risks, and understanding some of the practical issues lawyers and law students often ignore. To that end, guest speakers may participate. .
There will be no exam. Instead, we will divide the course into teams reflecting different “stakeholders” in the creation, ownership and distribution of content and information over the Internet, and each team will prepare a presentation or proposal to be presented in the class. Active participation by the class also is required.
We will meet once each week. Attendance is required.
Steve Davis is a Senior Fellow in the Law, Technology & Arts Program at UW Law School, where he has taught regularly for several years. He also is the global Director of Social Innovation at McKinsey & Company (www.mckinsey.com), leading the global consulting firm’s partnerships and work with organizations around the world that address major social issues through the use of philanthropic and social capital, such as private and corporate foundations, and social investors and entrepreneurs. He recently served as the Interim India Country Program Leader for PATH (www.path.org) and previously served as Interim CEO of IDRI (www.idri.org), both global health organizations. Earlier he served as General Counsel, then CEO for many years, of Corbis (www.corbis.com), a digital media company based in Seattle. He sits on numerous corporate and non-profit boards and has been active contributor to discussions about IP and the internet for many years. He holds degrees from Princeton, University of Washington, Columbia Law School, and certificates from programs at Beijing University and Stanford Business School.
Reading Materials
Selected cases and articles, from Merges, Menell & Lemley, Intellectual Property in the New Technological Age, 4th or 5th editions.
DMCA and related statutory materials
Selected readings from consumer and business press re: media, technology and the law
Weekly Outline
Week 1: March 28, 2011
NO CLASS DUE TO PROFESSOR BEING OUT OF THE COUNTRY
Week 2: April 4, 2011
Books, Videos and More Online – What’s The Problem?
Two of the most interesting and visible recent developments at the intersection of the law and the internet involve Google (not to mention their position in China!). Having acquired YouTube, Google became the defendant in a suit brought by Viacom claiming, among other things, widespread copyright infringement of Viacom’s many media properties. Google vigorously opposed these claims, asserting a statutory safe harbor under the important Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) providing copyright owners the right to “opt out” and have their works removed from the site. More recently, Google also has been in the news for its settlement of a widely publicized set of claims made by authors, publishers and others regarding its “Google Books” project.
Both of these cases provide ample fodder for us to consider a larger range of legal, business and policy issues pertaining to creativity on the internet, and will provide the basis for this course. First, it is important to understand a little about these cases and understand their various stakeholders and their respective interests.
Reading for this Class:
• Read Luckhurst, “Viacom v. Google: The $1B Battle for Content,” The Independent, (March 18, 2007) http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article2368890.ece
• Read Lessig, “Make Way for Copyright Chaos” New York Times Op-Ed, March 18, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/opinion/18lessig.html?ex=1331870400&en=a376e7886d4bcf62&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
• http://publishers.org/main/PressCenter/Archicves/2005_Aug/Aug_02.htm
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/23/authors-opt-out-google-book-settlement
Review as appropriate / if interested:
• Complaint, Viacom International Inc. et. Al. v. YouTube, Inc. et. Al (SDNY), www.lessig.org/blog/archives/vvg.pdf
• Go to www.googlebooks.com; and www.youtube.com, and check them out
Class Discussion:
• Introductions
• Establishing the Problem
• The Courts. v. The Court of Public Opinion v. Business Practices
• Scenarios from Different Stakeholders
Next Assignment:
• Readings below
• Start thinking about what different stakeholders might want and what they must do…
Week 3: April 11, 2011
So What’s the Law?
So before we go too far, we should review the law and try to understand where counsel for Google, Viacom and the others in these cases must start
Readings for the Class:
• DMCA, Sections 512 http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap12.html
• MGM v. Grokster, 125 S.Ct. 2764 (2005)
• A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., 239 F.3d 1004 (9thCir. 2001)
• Compare approaches and legal positions of www.eff.org v. www.musicunited.org v. www.googlecopyright.blogspot.com
Class Discussion
• Review of the case law
• Divide into Stakeholders Groups
• Discuss Team Assignments
Next Assignment:
• Readings (see below)
• Surf the Net and Identify two different sites that might raise questions of authorized and unauthorized use of content based on your understanding of the current state of the law, and be prepared to discuss.
Week 4: April 18, 2011
A Closer Look at the YouTube Case
Reading for this Class:
• Review complaint, Viacom International, Inc., et. al. v. YouTube, Inc. et. al., (SDNY) www.lessig.org/blog/archives/vvg.pdf
• Take a look at the following sites:
• www.anti-dmca.org (dmca)
• google.com/dmca.html (dmca)
• www.lessig.org/content/articles/works/cyberlessons/index.html (fair use - lessons 7 – 10)
• www.eff.org/issues/ip-and-free-speech/fair-use-principles-usergen (fair use)
Class Discussion:
• Discuss some of identified sites using content legally or not
• Discussion of legal framework issues in context of historical perspective
o DMCA
o Fair Use
o DRM/Filtering
• Define and discuss in more detail Stakeholder Teams’ assignment and issues
Next Assignment:
• Meet with your Stakeholder Team before next week. Divide into respective sub-groups as necessary. Begin process of developing positions/sub-positions and approaches.
• Post short (<200 words) blog of YOUR personal bias/position – whether as consumer, change agent, law student, etc. regarding the issues of this case – on Class Blog. Due May 8th.
Week 5: April 25, 2011
A Closer Look at Google Books
Reading for this Class:
• TBD
Class Discussion:
• History of Google Books
• The role of Competitors in legal developments
• The international implications
• E-Readers – and new issues
Next Assignment:
• Individual comments to be posted on Blog by EOD May 8th.
Week 6: May 2, 2011
Guest Speaker (or Work on Stakeholder Groups)
Reading for this Class:
• TBD
Week 7: May 9, 2011
Creators’ Rights in the Digital Age
Reading for this Class:
• Review selected press articles on Google Books
• Explore Columbia University Kernochan Center on Law and Media’s project www.keepyourcopyright.org
• Articles on Creative Commons
• Read article on approaches to music downloading http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-music-roundup-starbucks-iphone-radiohead-fans-pricing-bebo-atlantic-imeb
Class Discussion:
• Explore and Discuss Artist Views and Issues, legally, economically and socially
• Keepyourcopyright.org; Radiohead, and other innovations
• Update on status of different Stakeholder Team assignments – identify with class current challenges and issues
Next Assignment:
• Further Development of Stakeholder’s Position Papers – Final Presentations Due end of day May 22nd (<8 pages from each of the four groups) for posting on Class Blog
Week 8: May 16, 2010
Corporate Interests in the Digital Age: Old Media & New Media
Reading for this Class:
• TBD
Class Discussion:
• Devote half of class to stakeholder team presentations
Next Assignment:
• Readings below
• Team Presentations due on May 22th – posted on blog ahead of class presentations
Week 9: May 23 2011 (Final Session)
The Public’s Interests in the Digital Age: Consumers, Communities & Governments
No specific readings for this class, but come to discuss YOUR stakeholder’s point of view, with any appurtenant readings/articles/support
Presentations representing litigators, judges and lawyers, business coalitions, artist coalitions and others.
Readings:
• www.creativecommons.org
• www.keepyourcopyright.org
• TBD
Class Discussion:
• Presentations and/or mock debates between groups
• Who Represents the Consumer? The Community?