A Copyfighter’s Musings

TechLawAdvisor points to this decision by Judge Posner, in which he notes in dicta that “a copyright licensee has no right to make further copies (except a single, backup copy for his own use).”

Only a single copy?  That’s kind of interesting.  I haven’t known other decisions to be so narrow.  The AHRA is certainly broader (“No action may be brought under this title alleging infringement of copyright … based on the noncommercial use by a consumer of such a device or medium for making digital musical recordings or analog musical recordings”).

Go to TechLawAdvisor’s post for more.

Filed by Derek Slater at 10:12 am under Legal
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Frank points me to this.  I’ll let Texas Rep. John Carter speak for himself:

“What these kids don’t realize is that every time they pull up music and movies and make a copy, they are committing a felony under the United States code. If you were to prosecute someone and give them three years, I think this would act as a deterrent.”

Strong sentences are strong deterrents, right? Totally. Like mandatory minimums, for instance.  They were created for all the right reasons and worked very well.

Heh.

This is part of a really interesting shift in the RIAA’s strategy.  Will going after individuals, through civil and criminal action, affect consumer behavior? Will it just turn people off from buying music because they’re disgusted with the RIAA? Or will it spur even more piracy? Or, could it actually work?

I don’t have a lot of faith in the latter being true just from harsh sentences.  It’s still going to be difficult to catch most people, and it won’t affect many people outside this country; plus, people will find ways to make themselves more difficult to find. 

I’m not denying that it’s within the RIAA’s and the government’s power to go after people who break the law. I’m not saying they shouldn’t in all cases necessarily.  However, I don’t think it will have the desired impact of curbing file-sharing.

(Note: I realize that Carter isn’t asking for new legislation.  But, there have rarely been prosecutions under the NET Act – no prosecution for limited piracy, as far as I know. In that way, it’s effectively strengthening sentences.)

One other thing: Siva said something very interesting at the conference on Saturday.  In the context of discussing needlework and copyright with Alec, he said “If needleworkers got DRM, would that make the world better?”  Good question.

So, I ask: say prosecuting file-sharing did end piracy.  We basically return to the way business worked before, except we purchase things from companies online. We’ve probably scared most people off from using various technologies for perfectly legal purposes.  But, we’re back where we started, which, before the Internet, was acceptable enough.

Is that where we want to end up? Is that optimal?

Filed by Derek Slater at 9:09 am under General news
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Professor Felten describes further how the entertainment industry can’t figure out its threat model: are they trying to stop even one copy from getting on P2P networks, or are they simply trying to get piracy down to a manageable level?

Filed by Derek Slater at 8:52 am under General news
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[Note: no copyfighting news here – just shameless self-promotion.  Read on at your own risk]

I’m looking for summer work in San Franicsco/the Bay Area.  I’m hoping to do some sort of work involving Internet and/or intellectual property law.  Slightly more specifically, I’m interested in journalism (newspapers, magazines, websites) and law firms/clinics/legal research centers/etc. that focus on those issues.  I’d like to do something where I get to do some writing or legal research, but I’m pretty much open to anything.  If you work in one of those fields, or can refer me to someone who does, please write to me.  Or, if you know of something else that’s cool to do in San Francisco over the summer, write to me anyway.

Filed by Derek Slater at 12:56 am under General news
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