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Grokster and the Supreme Court:
The Case For and Against Consideration
 

A PFF Congressional Seminar
Friday, December 10, 2004, 12 - 2 pm
Rayburn House Office Building, Room B369
Washington, DC

Speakers:

  • Mitch Glazier, Senior Vice President for Government Relations, Recording Industry Association of America
  • Alan Davidson, Associate Director, Center for Democracy and Technology
  • Jonathan Band, Partner, Morrison & Foerster
  • James V. DeLong, Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for the Study of Digital Property, The Progress & Freedom Foundation
  • Moderator: Solveig Singleton, Senior Adjunct Fellow, The Progress & Freedom Foundation

The disputes in the Grokster case, as well as the debate earlier this year in the Senate over the so-called Induce Act, all stem from one question - whether we need to rethink secondary liability rules in the digital age. The four panelists will debate that topic, as well as to what extent any change should occur in the courts or in Congress. The Supreme Court is expected any day now to announce if they will hear the case; if they don't, the issue of P2P liability is almost certain to be debated again in the 109th Congress.

Glazier's RIAA represents some of the plaintiffs in Grokster, and is one of the parties that appealed the Ninth Circuit Court's ruling. Band has written and lectured extensively on fair use and the Sony decision, which is at the center of the Grokster case, and has been critical of the content industry during this debate. Davidson will speak on the implications of the case on technology and fair use. DeLong, director of PFF's Center for the Study of Digital Property, authored an amicus brief to the High Court urging it to hear the Grokster appeal.

 

 

The Progress & Freedom Foundation