Communications Law Commons^™

Raise The Yellow Submarine! Subafilms And Extraterritorial Application Of The Copyright Act, Michael T. Crowley

Federal Communications Law Journal

Protecting United States industry from the costs of overseas pirating is complex without an enforceable bilateral copyright agreement. In fact, the U.S. loses billions of dollars to acts of piracy abroad every year. Yet, the Ninth Circuit destroyed a potential check against overseas piracy in Subafilms, Ltd. v. MGM-Pathe Communs. Co. when it ruled that the U.S. Copyright Act does not prohibit piracy abroad. After a discussion of relevant case law surrounding extraterritorial application of the Copyright Act, the Author of this Note criticizes the Subafilms decision and proposes changes to the current language contained in the Copyright Act.