"PEER-TO-PEER: THE PROBLEM IS THE SOLUTION." Fast company [1085-9241] .101 (2005). 58-.

Adam Penenberg’s article on the issues of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing look at how this technology affects the film industry and the similarities and differences to music downloads. Penenberg opens with a summary of how feature length films become available on the pirate market. He cites not only leaks within the industry, but also the use of work prints. Despite the great availability of feature films on the Internet, Penenberg is quick to note the differences between downloading a film and downloading a song that protects the film industry, in a sense. Citing a twenty-five percent loss in revenue for the film industry, Penenberg says that the file size of a film makes it harder to download. He says that depending on connection speed, the download of a film can take up to a day. However, some website get around this issue by cutting the movie up into small sections that will not take as long to download. Also, when a film is more widely shared, the faster it downloads, so the more popular films download at a quicker pace. Penenberg, next, moves the article into the issues of combating P2P file sharing. Penenberg says that the film industry could shut down servers and take downloaders to court like the music industry, but he notes that this is not very successful and new servers will be created when old ones are shut down. Penenberg advocates a move to control Internet distribution, calling it the future of the film industry. He advocates a control and good management of the Internet distribution of both film and TV. There is a call for movie downloads on iTunes similar to the music downloads. He says that the industry needs a closed P2P system and they also a strong plan in preventing piracy. Here, Penenberg looks at Kontiki software and the possibilities it creates both in an iTunes-like or subscription service as well as the advertising and promotional aspects. The use of this software is growing greatly, and Penenberg speculates about how other popular P2P websites for film downloading will follow this lead.
The article is short, but gives a very interesting comparison of the music and film industries and a common problem that technology brought. Penenberg shows different approaches to how to solve illegal downloads and piracy, noting the difficulty of the task but giving examples of viable solutions. It is a very informative article and it provides an idea of how the film industry might develop.

"MGM v. Grokster and Pending Legislation: What's at Stake for Peer-to- Peer Networks and Copyright Law." The Licensing journal [1040-4023] 25.6 (2005). 1-.

Vaidhyanathan, Siva.. Copyrights and copywrongs : the rise of intellectual property and how it threatens creativity / Siva Vaidhyanathan. [0814788068 (alk. paper)] New York : New York University Press, c2001.
Call#: Van Pelt Library Rosengarten Reserve Z642 .V35 2001

 

    Siva Vaidhyanathan’s Copyright and Copywrongs is a history of Copyright law with a focus on its evolution within the film and music industries. Vaidhyanathan opens his book with an explanation of what copyright is and how it came to be.  Hi focus begins with print laws and what copyright was originally intended to do.  Next, Vaidhyanathan spends time explaining what fair use and private uses are within copyright law.  He shows how limited freedoms are granted in order to further the use and creation of intellectual property. He says copyright in the United States protects the specific expressions of ideas, not the ideas themselves.  After his explanation of the basics of copyright law, Vaidhyanathan focuses on literary copyright and Mark Twain.  He writes about Twains appearances before congress to argue for protection. This chapter focuses on the development of copyright in England and its transition to the United States.  Vaidhyanathan then shifts his focus to copyright and the film industry.  In this section he details the development of film copyright, especially highlighting the importance of Thomas Edison and D.W. Griffith in using and challenging the law and status quo.  This chapter also looks at the ideas of derivative works and the protections afforded under copyright laws. Vaidhyanathan demonstrates how the use of patents and copyrights developed both the industry and the law.  He talks about the “web” of expression and the importance of the verdicts of Judge Learned Hand in the development of film copyright laws.  The last section of Vaidhyanathan’s book looks at how the music industry deals with copyright. Vaidhyanathan explains issues like “total concept and feel.”  He also gives many examples of how musicians fight for recognition and payment when their compositions are used without consent or credit. Vaidhyanathan chooses to focus a lot on Hip Hop because that is the genre of music that has caused the most turmoil in relation to copyright. He shows how Hip Hop pushed and violates copyright law and the music industries response to Hip Hop.  
    Vaidhyanathan closes the book with a look at digital copyright issues and international law.  This section deals with computer software as well as Napster and P2P file sharing.  It also deals with international protections and standardization issues. 
    The book provides a good explanation of the history of copyright and literary copyright law and development.  However, its focus on the film industry shows how the law developed and was used and tested, the chapters pertaining to this aspect of copyright did not go into the law and ideas of copyright in the same detail of literary copyright.  The section on the music industry was also extremely limited and tangential at times.  Its focus was mainly on Hip-Hop and the tension between the genre and the law and how they functioned together.  This section did not go very deep into the basics of musical copyright and seemed to get too far away from copyright in some of its arguments about Hip Hop.  Although they are valid arguments in a broader scope, they do not seem fitting to the book as a whole.