The Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act, often abbreviated to just INDUCE Act, is a bill introduced in the United States Senate which targets "who[m]ever intentionally induces any violation" of copyright. The name came from an earlier version named the "Inducement Devolves into Unlawful Child Exploitation Act." On June 17, 2004, CNET's Declan McCullagh was the first major journalist to cover the controversial bill.
The Act would amend title 17 of the United States Code which is related to copyrights, by adding a subsection to the end of section 501. The subsection would state the following.
Whoever intentionally induces any violation identified in subsection (a) of this section shall be liable as an infringer. In subsection (g), "intentionally induces" means intentionally aids, abets, induces, counsels, or procures, and intent may be shown by acts from which a reasonable person would find intent to induce infringement based upon all relevant information about such acts then reasonably available to the actor, including whether the activity relies on infringement for its commercial viability. Nothing in this section shall enlarge or diminish the doctrines of vicarious or contributory liability for copyright infringement or require any court to unjustly withhold or impose any secondary liability for copyright infringement.
The bill is broad and could lead to prosecution of peer to peer software makers, web sites or the overturning of home recording and fair use rights pioneered by the famous Betamax case. Many critics fear that certain tools used today (such as CD ripping and burning software) could be considered to "intentionally induce" copyright violations, despite their utility for fair use purposes.
The bill is sponsored by former Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, a Republican senator from Utah, though it also has support from other Democrats and Republicans, including
The dispute over the INDUCEAct is largely taking place between the content creators, which support the protection of their copyrights, and the technology industries, which fear that the bill attacks their current and future innovations.
Another supporting argument for the INDUCEAct is that it should stop corporations that are operating by intentionally structuring their businesses to avoid secondary liability for copyright infringement.
The INDUCEAct has great potential to hurt the development of new technologies because it decreases the incentive to innovate as well as the incentive for venture capitalists to invest.
The Inducing Infringement of CopyrightAct of 2004, or InduceAct, was introduced to the United States Senate in June of 2004.
The ALA’s position on the InduceAct, and on copyright and technology in general[15], is a balance of protecting copyrights and promoting access to copyrighted material.
The InduceAct has the backing of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Senator Orrin Hatch, who is himself a composer,[16] with the aim of wiping out the millions of mp3 files that are shared daily over the Internet.
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