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No Electronic Theft Act

The United States No Electronic Theft Act (NET Act), a federal law passed in 1997, provides for criminal prosecution of individuals who engage in copyright infringement under certain circumstances, even when there is no monetary profit or commercial benefit from the infringement. Maximum penalties can be five years in prison with fines.

No Electronic Theft (NET) Act
Long titleAn Act to amend the provisions of titles 17 and 18, United States Code, to provide greater copyright protection by amending criminal copyright infringement provisions, and for other purposes.
Acronyms (colloquial)NET Act
Enacted bythe 105th United States Congress
EffectiveDecember 16, 1997
Citations
Public lawPub. L. 105-147
Statutes at Large111 Stat. 2678
Codification
Acts amendedCopyright Act of 1976
Titles amended17 and 18
U.S.C. sections amended17 USC 101, 506, 507; 18 USC 2319, 2320; 28 USC 1498
Legislative history

History edit

Prior to the enactment of the NET Act in 1997, criminal copyright infringement required that the infringement was for the purpose of "commercial advantage or private financial gain." Merely uploading and downloading files on the internet did not fulfill this requirement, meaning that even large-scale online infringement could not be prosecuted criminally.[1]

This state of affairs was underscored by the unsuccessful 1994 prosecution of David LaMacchia, then a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for allegedly facilitating massive copyright infringement as a hobby, without any commercial motive. The court's dismissal of United States v. LaMacchia suggested that then-existing criminal law simply did not apply to non-commercial infringements (a state of affairs which became known as the "LaMacchia Loophole"). The court suggested that Congress could act to make some non-commercial infringements a crime, and Congress acted on that suggestion in the NET Act.

The NET Act amended the definition of "commercial advantage or private financial gain" to include the "receipt, or expectation of receipt, of anything of value, including the receipt of other copyrighted works" (17 USC 101), and specifies penalties of up to five years in prison.

In addition, it added a threshold for criminal liability where the infringer neither obtained nor expected to obtain anything of value for the infringement – "by the reproduction or distribution, including by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copies or phonorecords of 1 or more copyrighted works, which have a total retail value of more than $ 1,000" (17 USC 506(a)(1)(B)). In response to the NET Act, the US Sentencing Commission stiffened sanctions for intellectual property infringement.[2]

References edit

  1. ^ Hardy, I. Trotter (2002). "Criminal Copyright Infringement". William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal. 11: 209–342.
  2. ^ Mark Motivans (2004). Intellectual Property Theft, 2002 (Report). Bureau of Justice Statistics.

External links edit

  Works related to No Electronic Theft (NET) Act at Wikisource

  • Copyright Law of the United States of America (Library of Congress)
  • Decision in U.S. v. LaMacchia

electronic, theft, united, states, federal, passed, 1997, provides, criminal, prosecution, individuals, engage, copyright, infringement, under, certain, circumstances, even, when, there, monetary, profit, commercial, benefit, from, infringement, maximum, penal. The United States No Electronic Theft Act NET Act a federal law passed in 1997 provides for criminal prosecution of individuals who engage in copyright infringement under certain circumstances even when there is no monetary profit or commercial benefit from the infringement Maximum penalties can be five years in prison with fines No Electronic Theft NET ActLong titleAn Act to amend the provisions of titles 17 and 18 United States Code to provide greater copyright protection by amending criminal copyright infringement provisions and for other purposes Acronyms colloquial NET ActEnacted bythe 105th United States CongressEffectiveDecember 16 1997CitationsPublic lawPub L 105 147Statutes at Large111 Stat 2678CodificationActs amendedCopyright Act of 1976Titles amended17 and 18U S C sections amended17 USC 101 506 507 18 USC 2319 2320 28 USC 1498Legislative historyIntroduced in the House as H R 2265 by Bob Goodlatte R VA on July 25 1997Committee consideration by United States House Committee on the Judiciary and United States Senate Committee on the JudiciaryPassed the House on November 4 1997 Passed the Senate on November 13 1997 Signed into law by President Bill Clinton on December 16 1997History editPrior to the enactment of the NET Act in 1997 criminal copyright infringement required that the infringement was for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain Merely uploading and downloading files on the internet did not fulfill this requirement meaning that even large scale online infringement could not be prosecuted criminally 1 This state of affairs was underscored by the unsuccessful 1994 prosecution of David LaMacchia then a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for allegedly facilitating massive copyright infringement as a hobby without any commercial motive The court s dismissal of United States v LaMacchia suggested that then existing criminal law simply did not apply to non commercial infringements a state of affairs which became known as the LaMacchia Loophole The court suggested that Congress could act to make some non commercial infringements a crime and Congress acted on that suggestion in the NET Act The NET Act amended the definition of commercial advantage or private financial gain to include the receipt or expectation of receipt of anything of value including the receipt of other copyrighted works 17 USC 101 and specifies penalties of up to five years in prison In addition it added a threshold for criminal liability where the infringer neither obtained nor expected to obtain anything of value for the infringement by the reproduction or distribution including by electronic means during any 180 day period of 1 or more copies or phonorecords of 1 or more copyrighted works which have a total retail value of more than 1 000 17 USC 506 a 1 B In response to the NET Act the US Sentencing Commission stiffened sanctions for intellectual property infringement 2 References edit Hardy I Trotter 2002 Criminal Copyright Infringement William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal 11 209 342 Mark Motivans 2004 Intellectual Property Theft 2002 Report Bureau of Justice Statistics External links edit nbsp Works related to No Electronic Theft NET Act at Wikisource Copyright Law of the United States of America Library of Congress Decision in U S v LaMacchia Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title No Electronic Theft Act amp oldid 1054904835, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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