The Cutting Edge: Computing / Technology / Innovation : INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES : On-Line Services Push the Envelope on Copyright Issue

When Paramount Communications Inc. recently discovered that computer files containing images and sounds from its “Star Trek” television series were free for the taking on America Online, the studio complained.

Not only did the on-line service remove the files, it also announced a review of all its computerized libraries to avoid other copyright violations.

Taken by itself, the case is just a footnote in the history of cyberspace law. But it was far from the last problem that will arise over copyright issues as the on-line world matures.

Law or no law, cyberspace denizens have always freely distributed copyrighted information on computer networks. In the early days of computing, the on-line clubhouse was tiny; copyright owners either didn’t know what was going on or didn’t care enough to complain. But those days are over.

“Companies with copyrights are starting to realize that they have to do something about the on-line world, either to capture revenue they may be missing or keep from diluting value of their product,” said Nora Cannon, a partner in King & Ballow, a Nashville, Tenn., law firm that specializes in information transfer issues.

CompuServe, for example, is fighting a lawsuit over MIDI files--computer readable and reproducible music files--that it makes available to subscribers.

But the issue is not just a matter of controlling information junkies who want a picture of Capt. Kirk on their computer screen. If commercial development of on-line services is to proceed unhindered, there is general agreement that copyright law will have to be clarified and modernized.

“A lot of people are asking me how they can go to market without falling afoul of other copyrights,” said David Nimmer, a copyright lawyer at Irell & Manella in Los Angeles. “It’s a largely uncharted area.”