Ginsburg, J., concurring
the Sony Court observed that the “sale of an article … adapted to [a patent] infringing use” does not suffice “to make the seller a contributory infringer” if the article “is also adapted to other and lawful uses.” Id., at 441 (quoting Henry v. A. B. Dick Co., 224 U.S. 1, 48 (1912), overruled on other grounds, Motion Picture Patents Co. v. Universal Film Mfg. Co., 243 U.S. 502, 517 (1917)).
“The staple article of commerce doctrine” applied to copyright, the Court stated, “must strike a balance between a copyright holder’s legitimate demand for effective—not merely symbolic—protection of the statutory monopoly, and the rights of others freely to engage in substantially unrelated areas of commerce.” Sony, 464 U.S., at 442. “Accordingly,” the Court held, “the sale of copying equipment, like the sale of other articles of commerce, does not constitute contributory infringement if the product is widely used for legitimate, unobjectionable purposes. Indeed, it need merely be capable of substantial noninfringing uses.” Ibid. Thus, to resolve the Sony case, the Court explained, it had to determine “whether the Betamax is capable of commercially significant noninfringing uses.” Ibid.
To answer that question, the Court considered whether “a significant number of [potential uses of the Betamax were] noninfringing.” Ibid. The Court homed in on one potential use–private, noncommercial time-shifting of television programs in the home (i.e., recording a broadcast TV program for later personal viewing). Time-shifting was noninfringing, the Court concluded, because in some cases trial testimony showed it was authorized by the copyright holder, id., at 443–447, and in others it qualified as legitimate fair use, id., at 447–455. Most purchasers used the Betamax principally to engage in time-shifting, id., at 421, 423, a use that “plainly satisfie[d]” the Court’s standard, id., at 442. Thus, there was no need in Sony to “give precise content to the question of how much [actual or potential] use is commer-
