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Date of Award
Winter 1-3-2024
Degree Name
Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD)
Degree Type
Dissertation
Abstract
This thesis employs an economic analysis approach to address the issues surrounding contributory copyright infringement and the Sony doctrine. Its primary objective is to establish a coherent framework for contributory copyright liability. Deeming someone contributorily liable involves two distinct levels of assessment. The first level entails determining whether contributory copyright infringement has occurred, which is essentially assessing the existence of a fault-based tort. Guided by the economic analysis of tort law, the determination of tort generally centers on the Hand formula, PL > B. Thus, this thesis employs the theoretical framework of the Hand formula to elucidate contributory copyright infringement. Once contributory copyright infringement is established, liability is typically triggered by default.
The second level, evaluating whether a waiver can be justified to deny liability in order to protect or promote certain special social activities, necessitates an examination of what legal economists commonly refer to as the “activity level” factor. In the realm of copyright law, this factor is often associated with exemption clauses based on the equilibrium between incentives to create more work and protection costs.
Building on the interaction of these two levels, this study proposes that the substantial non-infringing uses doctrine can be viewed as binary. A service’s non- infringing uses can either serve as a rebuttal of the tort, constituting a negative defense, or function as a waiver, embodying an affirmative defense. When the substantial non- infringing uses doctrine assumes different defense roles, its decisive factors, standards of establishment, and applicable scenarios are varied accordingly.
Chair and Committee
David Konig (Supervising Professor and Chair), Scott Baker (Examining Professor), Kevin Emerson Collins (Examining Professor)
Recommended Citation
Guo, Jiahao, "From Economic Analysis of Tort Law to Contributory Copyright Infringement and the Substantial Non-infringing Uses" (2024). School of Law Dissertations. 96.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_etds/96