Technology and Contract to Complement (and Frustrate) Copyright Law
ProCD Select Phone phone-number database on CD-ROM (1996)
ProCD, Inc. v. Zeidenberg, 86 F.3d 1447 (7th Cir., 1996)
(holding “shrink-wrap license” protecting uncopyrightable content to be valid and not pre-empted by federal copyright law)
Diamond Multimedia Rio PMP 300 and packaging (c. 1998), the first commercially successful personal MP3 player in North America
Recording Industry Association of America v. Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc., 180 F.3d 1072 (9th Cir. 1999)
(holding MP3 players to be legal under copyright law)
Galoob Game Genie add-on for Nintendo Entertainment System, allowing users to get extra lives and unearned magical powers (c. 1985-1989)
Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, Inc., 964 F. 2d 965 (9th Cir. 1992)
(holding that altering the operation of a video game was fair use and not an unauthorized “derivative work” under copyright law)
Digital Video Stabilizer (c. 1980s – 1990s), electronic device to remove electronic signals designed to frustrate VCR-to-VCR copying of commercially distributed content, such as movies
Edison Gold Moulded Records and packaging (c. 1902-1907), with license attempting to frustrate resellers
Lexmark replacement printer cartridge with on-box license to frustrate unauthorized cartridge refurbishers (2007)
Unwritten, album on CD, by Natasha Bedingfield (2005)
The Sony BMG record label released many CDs in 2005 with "XCP content protection softwarwe." When the CD was inserted into a computer running the Windows operating system, the CD surreptitiously installed a "rootkit" that disabled the computer from being able to "rip" audio tracks from CDs. The XCP rootkit made afflicted computers vulerable to further attacks by hackers unaffiliated with Sony. Despite the risk it posed to the computer, it was illegal under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) for users to remove the rootkit. The scandal resulted in class-action lawsuits against Sony and the making of a regulatory exception to the DMCA.