Nebraska's Response to Record Piracy

Abstract

INTRODUCTION|In 1971 the sound recording industry brought to the United States Congress a problem which had long merited attention. Both at home and abroad industry profits were being reduced, at an estimated rate of $100 million annually, by unauthorized reproductions of sound recordings-popularly known as "record piracy." To combat this problem Congress amended Title 17 of the United States Code (The Copyright Act of 1909) to add "sound recordings" as a new classification capable of federal copyright protection. However, these amendments were not retroactive. They extended protection only to sound recordings produced after February 15, 1972 and before January 1, 1975. This, in effect, left to the states the responsibility of providing a remedy for the unauthorized reproduction of those sound recordings produced prior to February 15, 1972 and after January 1, 1975. Nebraska responded in its 1974 legislative session with the enactment of L.B. 683, a criminal statute which prohibits record piracy. This article will examine L.B. 683 in the context of the federal legislation and judicial decisions which gave rise to its enactment...