Publications

As research on the Digital Media Project continues, the Berkman Center will publish a series of reports analyzing the current state of digital media and commenting on the way new developments will influence business model, law, and consumer behavior. The following is a list of current publications.

2006

• "The Digital Learning Challenge: Obstacles to Educational Uses of Copyrighted Material in the Digital Age" --This foundational white paper reports on a year-long study examining the relationship between copyright law and education by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and led by Berkman Center Faculty Director William W. Fisher III and Berkman Fellow William McGeveran.  The study explores whether innovative educational uses of digital technology – everything from DVDs in the classroom to digital music libraries to online resources such as Wikipedia -- are hampered by copyright restrictions.

• Podcasting Legal Guide: Rules for the Revolution -- a collaboration between Creative Commons and the Berkman Center Clinical Program in Cyberlaw reviewing copyright, trademark and other legal issues related to podcasting and providing a helpful list of resources for podcasters.
  

2005

• Consumer Taste Sharing Is Driving the Online Music Business and Democratizing Culture -- a trend and benefit analysis concerning alternative (non-p2p) modes of music sharing and the legal licensing thereof (December 2005)


• Copyright and Digital Media in a Post-Napster World -- an update of the DMP's 2003 foundational White Paper assessing the state of digital media (January 2005)


• International Supplement -- a supplement to the White Paper, Copyright and Digital Media in Post-Napster World (January 2005)


• Content and Control -- a report "Assessing the Impact of Policy Choices on Potential Online Business Models in the Music and Film Industries" (January 2005)

2004

• Transposing the Copyright Directive: Legal Protection of Technological Measures in EU-Member States -- a study of the implementation of copyright law in different European Union nations (Nov 2004)
  
  
• iTunes Europe: A Preliminary Analysis -- a report analyzing the legal foundation of iTunes Europe and the interplay of the service with European law (June 2004)
  
  
• iTunes: How Copyright, Contract, and Technology Shape the Business of Digital Media -- a whitepaper analyzing Apple's online music store, iTunes, and its implications for international law (June 2004)
  
  
• The amicus brief, from individual members of the Berkman Center, regarding the music industry's lawsuit, Capitol Records et al. v. Alaujan (May 2004)
  
  

2003

• Copyright and Digital Media in a Post-Napster World -- the Berkman Center and Gartner released this foundational whitepaper to identify the most important features of today's digital media landscape and the main legal principles that govern it (August 2003)
  
  
• Five Scenarios for Digital Media in a Post-Napster World -- the research partners released this follow-up report to present five possible directions that copyright law and digital media could follow (November 2003)

Further Reading

Gartner, a sponsor of the Digital Media Project, has a number of digital media resources available on its website. (Viewing full contents of the site requires subscription.)

Introduction and Chapter 6 from Prof. William Fisher's upcoming book, Promises to Keep (Stanford University Press, 2004), about copyright law and other ways of regulating digital media.

A description of a conference that took place at Harvard Law School on December 5, 2003 to discuss Alternative Compensation Systems.

A report, presented on the website for the Soros Foundation Network, about the need for alternative compensation system.

An article by Terry Fisher in C|Net that outlines his plan for to allow file sharing for music and movies through a royalties system.

Listen In

Watch a presentation by Berkman Center Director John Palfrey at Cornell University entitled The Digital Media Crisis. Video streaming and slides of the presentation are available. (October 2004)

A 15-minute audio documentary of the Berkman Center's conference on Alternative Compensation Systems on December 5, 2003 is now available.  Stream it by clicking here.  Or download by clicking here.