Copyright and Home Copying: Technology Challenges the Law

Citation: Office of Technolcgy Assessment, Copyright and Home Copying: Technology Challenges the Law (OTA-CIT-422, Oct. 1989).

This report examined noncommercial, private use of copyrighted works and the implications of digital media and recording technologies, particularly for home audio recording. That report found that intellectual property laws serve to define the boundaries between permissible and prohibited uses of works; technology, driven by the social and economic objectives of its users, defines the frontiers of possible uses and feasible enforcement of boundaries.

The report found that technological changes and trends that substantially alter the nature and extent of possible uses, or the feasibility of enforcing prohibitions against certain uses, give rise to tensions between users and proprietors and may make modification or clarification of the law desirable.

In some cases, OTA found, new technologies (e.g., copy protection) may have the effect of a de facto change in the law.