Section 411: Brief History Of US Copyright Law

The concept of copyright is neither new nor cast in stone in its meaning and interpretation; copyright law is directly connected to the ever changing march of technology. The beginning of the technological revolution and an example for the need of a copyright law began in 1436 with the Gutenberg movable typeset printing press. Before Gutenberg’s invention, the total number of books in all of Europe was in the thousands, with in fifty years, this figure changed to approximately ten million in which there was no monetary benefit going towards the authors of those books ("historyofcopyright.org," 2017). That revolutionary change in the way content was distributed and used changed history and laid the framework for copyright law. In The challenge

Constitution states in part, ”The Congress shall have the Power To promote the Progress of Science and Useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries” ("Copyright 411: Brief History of U.S. Copyright Law", 2017). In that law, it gave the copyright holder the exclusive rights for a period of time thus giving a direct financial interest to those who created content. With the first introduction of copyright law it has been said that the primary purpose is not to protect the economic interest of copyright holder, but in its truest form provide a financial concern to those who create new forms of content("Purpose of Copyright Law," 2017). This financial interest is the primary motivation for the ever changing content and technology throughout

In 2012 the Court found the Georgia State University in violation of five out of the ninety-nine alleged copyright violations by the publishers. The Court rejected the strict injunction proposed by the publishers and ordered publishers to pay GSU's attorney fees. The publishers appealed the decision to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and in October 2017 the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals found in the publishers favor. In February 2015 the Court rejected a motion to reopen the record, April 2015 the Court denied the motion and ordered a new analysis of the alleged copyright infractions and the fair use provision. In March 2016 the Court found only four cases of infringement and ruled in favor of GSU. In August 2016 the publishers filed a notice to appeal the Court's findings” ("LibGuides: GSU Library Copyright Lawsuit: Introduction,"