This particular case involved Universal City Studios and the Sony Corporation of America, and is most often referred to as "the Betamax case."  In 1976, Sony introduced their Betamax VCR, and used the machine's ability to record television as a marketing strategy.  Universal City Studios countered that Betamax's technological ability to copy programming for was a direct copyright infringement.   Sony argued that  their consumers had the right to record various programs in the privacy of their own home.  Rulings and appeals were traded back and forth until the case reached the Supreme Court in 1984  The Court eventually ruled that the company itself could not be held accountable for its creation of a new technology, even if said technology is used for specific infringements of copyright law.  As long as the technology can be used for legal purposes, then the manufacturer is not at fault for any user infringements.  The court's reasoning behind this ruling was that the public should not be deprived of a productive technology simply because some users choose to use the product unlawfully.  This case may in fact be the most important copyright infringement case in regards to how it affects and influences the decisions made regarding piracy and, specifically, peer-to-peer file sharing.  Another extremely famous case of MGM versus Grokster used the ruling of this case to argue in their defense.  It provides a great point of reference for my paper, as it shows the way in which the early beginnings of piracy were dealt with on a legislative basis.