Sony Corporation of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc.
United States Supreme Court
464 U.S. 417, 104 S. Ct. 774, 78 L. Ed. 2d 574 (1984)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Sony Corporation of America (Sony) (defendant) created a video-cassette recorder (VCR) called Betamax, which allowed consumers to record things and watch them later, including copyrighted television shows and movies. Universal City Studios, Inc., and other copyright holders of certain shows and movies (collectively, Universal) (plaintiffs) brought suit, alleging that Sony was guilty of contributory copyright infringement. The district court found that recording a show and watching it later (time-shifting) was fair use because it might actually increase viewership of copyrighted programs, and because content producers not involved in the litigation were actually in favor of allowing time-shifting to continue. The court of appeals reversed, ruling in favor of Universal. Sony appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Stevens, J.)
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