Abstract
The primary goal of this Article is three-fold: (1) to explore the role of the innocent infringer archetype historically and in the digital age; (2) to highlight the tension between customary and generally accepted online uses and copyright law that compromise efficient use of technology and progress of the digital technologies, the Internet, and society at large; and (3) to offer a legislative fix in the form of safe harbor for direct innocent infringers. Such an exemption seems not only more efficient but also more just in the online environment where unwitting infringement for the average copyright consumer is far easier than ever to commit, extremely difficult to police, and often causes little, if any, cognizable market harm.
Safe Harbor was judged one of the best law review articles related to entertainment, publishing and/or the arts published in the 2013-14 academic publishing cycle and selected for inclusion in the 2014 edition of the Entertainment, Publishing and the Arts Handbook, an anthology published annually by Thomson Reuters (West).
Publication Date
1-1-2013
Journal Title
Willamette Law Review
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
Tonya M. Evans, Safe Harbor for the Innocent Infringer in the Digital Age, 50 Willamette L. Rev. 1 (2013).
Included in
Intellectual Property Law Commons, Other Computer Sciences Commons, Technology and Innovation Commons