It is 1982 and 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has just handed down their ruling in the case of Universal v Sony stating that Sony is liable for contributory infringement. Sony plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but that court has not yet agreed to hear the case.
Y ou have been selected to write an op-ed article on the case for the CS 306 Times . Your editor wants to know:
- Was it the right decision, legally?
- Was it the right decision, ethically?
- What does the decision mean for the current state of the law and, perhaps more importantly, what will it mean for the American people, the technology industry, and media content creators?
Your article needs to provide a thoughtful, reflective discussion of these questions. Readers of CS 306 Times are expecting and counting on you to give them the full story with all its implications. How will the outcome of this case affect them? (To fully consider this, you may want to imagine an alternate history in which the Supreme Court chose not to consider Sony’s appeal, and the ruling of the 9th Circuit stood. How would that ruling have impacted copyright law and society if the case history ended at the 9th circuit?)
The readers of the CS 306 Times have come to expect a high level of thoughtful reflection and analysis. Don’t let them down! This is your chance to be creative, so feel free to add some journalistic flair along with your explanation and analysis.
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