There is a real tension of interests between content owners and users. Traditionally the law has been very generous to content owners, which has led to tremendous protection for intellectual property. Recent examples include Subway's attempt to trademark "Footlong" so that other sandwich shops can't use the phrase, or the tattoo artist who did Mike Tyson's face tattoo suing the producers to the Hangover Part 2 movie for using the same face tattoo. As you read and heard, copyright owners were successful in the 1990's in persuading Congress to extend copyright terms from 50 years to 70 years past the death of the author.Read the quote from Judge Alex Kozinski on page 173 of your textbook ("Concluding Thoughts" Chapter 9). Do you agree with Judge Kozinski that overprotecting intellectual property is as harmful as under protecting it?
Read the July 12, 2012, New York Times article about Richard O'Dwyer here:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/technology/us-pursues-richard-odwyer-as-intermediary-in-online-piracy.htmlO'Dwyer is a 24-year-old college student in Britain who earned $230,000 while operating a website that contained links to other websites that hosted copyrighted TV shows and movies. Now, at the urging of the MPAA (film studio lobbying group), the US government is seeking his extradition to the U.S. (a country he's never been to) to face a possible 10-year jail sentence.What would you do if you were the judge in this case? Be sure to address the concerns raised by the MPAA in your decision.