Peer-to-Peer Developers Need to Know about (US) Copyright Law

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I. What this is, and who should read it.

The future of peer-to-peer file-sharing is entwined, for better or worse, with copyright law. Copyright owners have already targeted not only the makers of file-sharing clients like Napster, Scour, Audiogalaxy, Aimster and Kazaa, and Morpheus, but also companies that provide products that rely on or add value to public P2P networks, such as MP3Board.com, which provided a web-based search interface for the gnutella network.

If these early skirmishes yield any lesson for P2P developers, it is that a legal strategy needs to be in place early, preferably at the beginning of development, rather than bolted on at the end.

This piece is meant as a general explanation of the U.S. copyright law principles most relevant to P2P file-sharing technologies. It is aimed primarily at:

* Developers of core P2P file-sharing technology, such as the underlying protocols, platform tools, and specific client implementations; and
* Developers of ancillary services that depend upon or add value to P2P file-sharing networks, such as providers of search, security, metadata aggregation, and other services.

The following discussion is meant as a general introduction, and thus glosses over many of copyright law's more subtle nuances. It is aimed not at giving you all the answers, but rather at allowing you to recognize the right questions to ask.

What this is not: The following discussion focuses only on U.S. copyright law, and does not address any issues that may arise under non-U.S. law. While non-copyright principles may also be mentioned, this discussion does not attempt to examine other legal principles that might apply to P2P file-sharing, including patent, trademark, trade secret, or unfair competition. Nothing contained herein constitutes legal advice—please discuss your individual situation with your own attorney.

didnt read it all(a bit long) but some interesting points there..



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