PRESENTING CHRIS MEYER 54

INTRODUCTION 54
I THE COPYRIGHT ACT OF 1976 54
A. Passage of the Act 54
B. Its Abortive Title II 55
C. Computer Software Copyright Act of 1980 55

II. THE FASHION BILLS 56

III. TWO DECADES OF DESCENT 57
A. Chapter 9: Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984 57
B. Chapter 10: Audio Home Recording Act 59
C. Chapter 11: Bootlegs 60

IV. SINKING FURTHER: THE DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT 62
A. In General 62
B. Chapter 13: Boat Hulls 63
C. Chapter 12: Anticircumvention 66
V. SAILING FORWARD WITH FINAL CHAPTERS 67
A. Chapter 14: Sound Recordings 67
B. Chapter 15: Small Claims 68

VI. CHARTING THE COURSE OF HISTORY 69
A. Two Decades of Decline 69
B. The Depths of Stealth Amendments 69
C. Up Periscope 71
D. More Fashionable Treatment 72

WRAPPING UP: A QUARTER CENTURY REGAINING EQUILIBRIUM 72

In this lecture, David Nimmer looks at how the 1976 Act has been amended, and suggests that many departed from the spirit of the original Act. He asks if the proposed fashion bills fit within the trajectory of amendments? The talk discusses the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984, the Audio Home Recording Act, anti-bootlegging legislation, boat hulls, sound recordings and small claims. He ends with a section on how we should interpret what he defines as “two decades of decline” and the “depths of stealth amendments,” and suggests how the fashion bills fit within the landscape.