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| According to the U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8:
“The Congress shall have power to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” Pursuant to this grant of authority the Congress has adopted copyright statutes giving the owners of movies and other creative works certain exclusive rights, including the right to make copies and to perform the work in public.
One of MPAA's top priorities is to protect the copyrights held by its member companies. This frequently involves litigation against persons who have violated our members' copyrights or have assisted other to violate those rights.
Most recently, the MPAA and its members companies were involved in the Supreme Court case of MGM Studios vs. Grokster, an Internet peer-to-peer (P2P) software company.
P2P software allows users to search the computer files of other users (“peers”) connected to the network, and illegally copy copyrighted movies and songs. MGM Studios filed suit against Grokster, arguing that the company should be held liable for encouraging its users to violate the copyright law.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, ruled that Grokster was indeed liable for copyright infringement. In one accompanying opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote, “Deliberate unlawful copying is no less an unlawful taking of property than garden-variety theft.”
Downloading copyrighted material without appropriate authorization has always been illegal. The Supreme Court reinforced this fact in the strongest terms. Furthermore, companies that encourage their customers to steal copyrighted material can now also be held accountable.
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