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Suthersanen, Uma --- "Technology, Time and Market Forces: The Stakeholders in the Kazaa Era" [2006] ELECD 333; in Pugatch, Perez Meir (ed), "The Intellectual Property Debate" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006)

Book Title: The Intellectual Property Debate

Editor(s): Pugatch, Perez Meir

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845420383

Section: Chapter 13

Section Title: Technology, Time and Market Forces: The Stakeholders in the Kazaa Era

Author(s): Suthersanen, Uma

Number of pages: 38

Extract:

13. Technology, time and market
forces: the stakeholders in the
Kazaa era1
Uma Suthersanen

history has shown that time and market forces often provide
equilibrium in balancing interests, whether the new technology
be a player piano, a copier, a tape recorder, a video recorder, a
personal computer, a karaoke machine or an MP3 player. Thus,
it is prudent for courts to exercise caution.
Judge Thomas, MGM Studios et al. v. Grokster Ltd.2



INTRODUCTION

Every technological revolution has invariably been greeted by howls of hys-
teria from copyright owners. Historically speaking, technology has always
changed the relationship between three key stakeholders in the world of com-
mercial copyright goods: the author, the industry in charge of the copyright
good, and the consumer. The piracy threat posed by reprographic technol-
ogy was resolved by lucrative blanket licensing deals between copyright col-
lecting societies and a host of disparate mass users of copyright works
including churches, universities, businesses and libraries; the piracy threat
posed by video technology led to lucrative video (and now DVD) rental
income for the copyright owner; the piracy threat posed by downloading of
music will soon turn into a booming business model for buying singles
through iTunes, Napster (ex post) and MyCoke.com. History shows us,
however, that the stakeholder triumvirate, that is author­industry­consumer
remains consistent. One major reason for this is that the structure and per-
formance of this relationship, and the market for the copyright good, has
relied on, and continues to rely on, ...