UPDATE: The 7th Circuit Court of Appeal denied EFF\'s motion for leave to file the Amicus brief on June 2, 2003.

For Immediate Release: Friday, May 30, 2003

Electronic Frontier Foundation Asks Court to Uphold Betamax

Aimster Case Should Balance Copyright With Tech Innovation

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and twelve other public interest, technology, and library organizations today asked a federal appeals court to reconsider a ruling on the role of the "Betamax doctrine" in a case involving the Aimster peer-to-peer (P2P) software.

In a landmark 1984 decision called Sony Corporation v. Universal Studios, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that creators and distributors of technology could not be held liable under copyright law as long as a technology was capable of substantial non-copyright-infringing uses. Known as the "Betamax doctrine" because the decision upheld Sony\'s right to sell Betamax video recorders, the court\'s decision has guided technological innovation for almost two decades.

In the Aimster litigation now before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeal, a dozen organizations sought leave to file a friend-of-the-court brief disputing the copyright owners\' interpretation of limitations on the Betamax doctrine.

"The California Central District Court rejected the limited interpretation of of the Betamax doctrine argued by the copyright owner plaintiffs in MGM v. Grokster, another case involving P2P software," said EFF Staff Attorney Gwen Hinze. "We\'ve asked the 7th Circuit to apply the Betamax doctrine similarly to protect the rights of technology innovators and users."

Aimster (now called Madster) was one of several P2P software companies sued by entertainment industry copyright owners for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement following the defeat of Napster in 2001. The copyright owner plaintiffs obtained an injunction from the district court of the Northern District of Illinois in 2002 to prevent Aimster from distributing its P2P software. That decision is on appeal to the 7th Circuit, and oral argument is scheduled for June 4, 2003.

The organizations that joined EFF in filing the Aimster amicus brief include a broad range of technology innovators, technology industry groups, public interest groups, libraries, and other users of technology. The following organizations signed on to the brief:

Electronic Frontier Foundation
American Association of Law Libraries
American Library Association
American Research Libraries
Computer & Communications Industry Association
Consumer Electronics Association
Digital Future Coalition
Grokster, Ltd.
Home Recording Rights Coalition
Music Library Association
Net Coalition
Public Knowledge
Streamcast Networks, Inc.

EFF thanks Richard Wiebe, Esq., for his invaluable assistance with the amicus brief.

Contact:

Gwen Hinze
  Staff Attorney
  Electronic Frontier Foundation
  gwen@eff.org
  +1 415 436-9333 x110 (office)

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