Episodes
Sunday Dec 11, 2022
Sunday Dec 11, 2022
Audio of the 1984 opinion of the Supreme Court in Sony Corporation of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc.
Do you remember Sony Betamax?
Back in the 80s, Sony Corporation of America manufactured and sold the "Betamax" home video tape recorder (VTR). Since Universal City Studios owned the copyrights to many of the broadcast tv programs that consumers used Betamax to record, Universal sued Sony for copyright infringement - seeking monetary damages, an equitable accounting of profits, and an injunction against the manufacturing and marketing of the VTR's. The District Court ruled against Universal, holding that the noncommercial home use of recorded material broadcast over the public airwaves was a fair use of copyrighted works, not copyright infringement. The District Court further concluded that, even if the home use of a VTR had been considered an infringement, Sony could not be held liable as contributory infringers. But, the Court of Appeals reversed, holding Sony liable for contributory infringement.
The question before the Supreme Court in this case was whether Sony's sale of "Betamax" video tape recorders to the general public constituted contributory infringement of copyrighted public broadcasts under the Copyright Act.
The Court held that "[t]he sale of the VTR's to the general public does not constitute contributory infringement of [Universal's] copyrights." And American Gen X kids like me were able to continue recording episodes of Family Ties and The Love Boat.
Access this SCOTUS opinion and other essential case information on Oyez.
Music by Epidemic Sound
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