Legal Concepts Worksheet
Kathy Quinn
University of Phoenix
Legal Concepts Worksheet
Concept Application of Concept to the Issue of Downloading Reference to Concept in Reading
Identify risk associated with the current trends in intellectual property law: Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is suing RealNetworks because of the DVD-copying software sold by the company. RealDVD software allows consumers to copy movies onto computers and share movies with other computers. This means consumers can download movies off the internet or upload movies to the internet. The software does this by bypasses anti-copying protection. This is a violation of the DMCA. A judge has temporally suspended the sale of RealDVD until it can be determined the software does violate the act. “The Digital Millennium Copyright Act makes illegal the effort to get around devices used by copyright owners to keep their works from being infringed” (Reed, Shedd, Morehead, Corley, 2004, pg. 210).
Differentiate between civil and criminal law - Civil Law
MPAA lawsuit against RealNetworks will be considered under civil law, specifically business tort. If the RealDVD software is a violation of the DMCA, RealNetworks will be help liable for copyright infringement. The lawsuit would not be related to criminal law because MPAA is not suing to have RealNetworks put in jail for the selling of the software, they are asking for the sale of the software to be stopped and any compensation be awarded for damages. “Civil cases may include suits for breach of contract or tort cases, such as suits for personal injuries” (Reed, Shedd, Morehead, Corley, 2004, pg. 10).
“Criminal cases involve a representative of government attempting to prove the wrong committed against society and seeking to have the wrongdoer punished by the court system” (Reed, Shedd, Morehead, Corley, 2004, pg. 10).
Identify risk associated with the current trends in...