The Inducing Infringement of Copyright Act, introduced by Senator Orrin Hatch on Tuesday, amends existing copyright law to make anybody who intentionally aids, abets, induces, counsels, or procures for an infringer an infringer themselves.
While the proposed legislation does not mention technology, Senator Hatch made it clear in his introductory speech to the Senate that it is designed to allow record companies to sue companies that make software such as Kazaa and Morpheus.
Hatch said the bill is designed to introduce the legislative guidance required by the court that recently ruled that Morpheus, as a multiple-use technology that can be used for non-infringing purposes, does not break copyright law.
It’s also an effort to give the recording industry a method to sue the software makers as opposed to their customers. The Recording Industry Association of America has had a number of embarrassing incidents suing children or the wrong people of late.
Hatch said that the Morpheus ruling means although artists can sue exploited children and families into bankruptcy, courts need ‘additional legislative guidance’ to decide whether artists can, instead, sue the corporations that profit by inducing children to break the law.
Hatch’s entire speech was filled with reference to exploited children – meaning kids who trade copyrighted works on P2P systems. The bill was originally entitled Inducement Devolves into Unlawful Child Exploitation Act of 2004.
Critics say the proposed law is too broad, and could be used to sue software distributors such as CNet, which offers P2P software on its Download.com site. Hatch specifically referred to CNet in his speech.
