Copyright Law and the Web, Part 1: A Hazy Intersection
he VCR was just the beginning. Now there's Web video, social networking sites, peer-to-peer file-sharing and blogs. The confusing twists and turns that copyright law takes when the Web is involved

ensure that lawyers keep getting paid, but they often have everyone else wondering what's legal and what's not. That can be said for corporations as well as consumers.Technology often evolves more rapidly than the laws needed to regulate it, especially in the realm of copyright law. The Associated Press, Viacom (NYSE: VIAb) and YouTube are just some of the parties involved in a variety of lawsuits and accusations focused on Internet copyright issues. Guidelines are in place concerning the fair use of copyrighted materials, but their interpretations have often left lawyers, judges, corporations and everyday consumers wondering and arguing about what exactly is legal and what is not.

Copyright questions have been raised since the dawn of the printing press. An array of factors -- the expanding variety of digital content, the growing ability of consumer electronics to handle multimedia data, increasing overlap between traditional and Internet media, and the expanding number of content distribution channels -- have turned them into front-page news.

Originally, companies tried to stop individual consumers from downloading pirated items, such as music and movies. Recently, the focus of the suits has in some cases shifted to corporate copyrights and instances wherein companies attempt to stop other businesses from using what they view as rightfully theirs.