Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons^™

Copytraps, Ned Snow

Indiana Law Journal

Congress has unintentionally evoked copytraps, which exact thousands of dollars from the Internet user who innocently buys music without knowing that it infringes copyright. Copytraps arise when Web sites lure innocent users into downloading expression that seems legal but is actually infringing. Regardless of whether the Web site appears legitimate, whether a user's good-faith belief is reasonable, or whether the Web site owner is unaware that the material is infringing, users who download infringing material face strict liability punishment, and the penalties are severe. It is entrapment, with the spoils from the innocent going to large corporate copyright holders. The …