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Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

Abstract

This Note examines how arbitration and mediation can be injected into the online copyright debate to better serve the interests of all parties. First, this Note addresses past litigation models to compare the benefits and costs of using the courts to resolve piracy issues. The history of litigation against mass peer-to-peer file sharers and individual downloaders is an important aspect to this story. Next, this Note describes the current state of copyright laws and how SOPA and PIPA would alter copyright protection against foreign piracy. Copyright holders, predominately represented by the Recording Industry Association of America, and content hosts, such as Google, Facebook and Wikipedia, have valid arguments; each are addressed in this section. This Note then analyzes how arbitration has been utilized in past intellectual property disputes.ADR mechanisms in other intellectual property areas serve as a model for alleviating the SOPA debate. In examining these mechanisms, the current litigation model is compared to international arbitration. In doing so, this Note proposes adopting an online piracy arbitration panel housed in the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center. This Note outlines the advantages of using the Center to resolve online piracy disputes. Finally, this Note addresses the concerns of SOPA and PIPA by proposing an arbitration mechanism that could aid in resolving future copyright infringement disputes. This system could also be utilized to handle infringement notifications, which have been at the center of controversy regarding SOPA. By requiring parties to dispute notifications before a third party arbitrator-with financial incentives to dissuade frivolous claims-the proposed system could reduce litigation and help ease the heated debate over online piracy.

Disciplines

Communications Law | Dispute Resolution and Arbitration | Intellectual Property Law | International Trade Law | Law | Science and Technology Law

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