Nimmer on Grokster
Professor Nimmer (the author of the widely used copyright law textbook)
wrote on the effect of Grokster case. If you are a serious
reader and not a casual gossiper, I recommend this article.
It deepened my understanding of Grokster.
See the
article at Nimmer’s blog.
The key idea of Grokster is to introduce the “inducement liability.”
It is not a whole new concept. We had contributory
liability and vicarious liability which may be used to stop Grokster.
(see Nimmer’s article for the definition of these
liabilities) Inducement liability is a little bit broader
than the previous two liabilities.
Like Nimmer said, some acts that weren’t previously infringing may be
found infringing after Grokster. Intent is usually a matter
of fact. More fact digging after Grokster, fellas.
