On Mon, 27 Dec 1999 15:33:56 -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> I tried to explain why the below was so (having a formal law
> school education on the subject and having practiced copyright law to
> a limited extent) and how it came to pass, and found myself the
> subject of scurrilous attacks from all corners.
Goood. So you've got a legal background.
What I'm struggling with, in all of this is the copyright issue.
Hypothetical scenario (this is truly hypothetical! ;-))...I wrote some
music, own the copyright, arrange for the sale of said music on, for
example, CD. I own the copyright. Say, for example, I decide to include a
clause in the sale of this music - *my* intellectual property, I own the
copyright, in that nobody, and I mean *nobody*, who buys it can make
unauthorised (that means without requesting from *me* and getting my
acceptance) copies of it. (I suspect most copyright owners make similar
clauses in the sale of copies of their property.)
With this in mind, I'm perfectly happy for somebody who buys the original CD
to create a backup copy to another CD, so that should they damage the
original *they* can still use it. I'm happy for them to copy it to MD or
cassette, or whatever other medium, also. All this totally with the proviso
that this copy, on whatever medium, is only used for personal, not loaned,
given or passed however to a third party. And is only usuable so long as the
owner still owns the original copyright material (ie doesn't give it away,
loan, rent, lease or sell it).
So in summary, somebody who buys my hypothetical intellectual property, can
copy it for their own use, to other mediums, so that for example they can
use it on another format, or as sort of a backup of the original media. They
can sell the original media, or give it away if they wish, but all of their
copies must either be passed to the new owner, or destroyed (logically would
do!).
My intent with these conditions is that legal owners can have backups and
use it on other mediums, but can't pass unuauthorised copies to others, or
indeed store unauthorised copies.
Now I could stipulate these conditions with the sale of my copyright
material. What legislation would make either this invalid, or prevent me
from making such caveats? Bearing in mind that nobody *has* to buy my
intellectual property - they *choose* to.
So I could make such conditions, contractually between myself, or my agents,
and the customer. As I said, nobody has to buy this, but they have to accept
the conditions if they want to buy it.
Whether proof of any transgression is tenable, is a seperate issue.
>From all I've read, in the quotes of AHRA, none of what I've stipulated is
circumvented, superseded, or otherwise. In fact I fail to conceive of why
anything from your constitution (I'm English! ;-)) would make this invalid -
I mean to be fair, I own what I'm (hypothetically) selling, and nobody has
to buy it.
>From what I've surmised from the quoted legislation, it appears to state
that independant bodies cannot impose restrictions in either equipment,
media or software, preventing people with recording equipment from using it.
Say I'm a musician and I'm quite happy to record and distribute my music to
anybody that wants it - I should be quite able to given the commercial
equipment available.
I also perceive it as preventing pre-emptive moves by certain parties who
may wish to make certain recordable digital devices as being illegal, simply
because they *may* be used to breach copyright.
AIUI copyright and contractual stipulations are still legal both in the US
(I would imagine as long as the stipulation are not un-constitutional or
illegal in their own right), and the UK.
If you dispute this, post the copyright restrictions from pre-recorded
media, that you would assert you are legally able to distribute freely
(assuming non-commerciality) here, then anything that *specifically* revokes
such copyright or contractual stipulations.
In terms of the "As a US citizen, I can do anything I like in my own
home...my home's my castle...I'll do what I like...I'm not listening to
you...look my fingers are in my ears...na, na, na..." type arguments - I can
only see this as purely bogus. For instance can you receive either encrypted
cable or satellite broadcasts in your home? Are you within your rights to
decrypt this, by whatever means, without paying the required subscription or
fee, in your own home? If so, why so...if not why not?
And what is the tangible difference between this and copying prerecorded
copyright material?
I mean you could really exploit the metaphor, if you were allowed to just
unilaterally revoke copyright restrictions and copy whatever you wanted, so
long as you were not making any commercial arrangements - I mean a guy could
have a whole lotta friends with which he'd allow to take personal copies of
his original copyright material - where would you draw the line?
In terms of what 99.99% of MD users do, I suspect there's not a lot of
research in that. I buy music on CD (typically) and I copy that to MD for MD
use. AIUI this is allowed within the copyright restrictions, as I have a
legal copy. I have 4 or 5 friends who use MD in this way too.
In terms of what you can legally do, all you have to do to be sure is read
the copyright agreement with the media you are concerned with - this should
answer all of your questions.
As to those that would say you can copy anything, carte blanche - I can only
say this is quite wrong - to be sure, read your copyright agreement - what
suddently manifested to revoke such principles?
The ethics of this, I see as probably a strawman - the pro-copy-anything
camp, probably have a vested interest, and perhaps a different slant on the
interpretation. From a business perspective, it's simply not your call.
People buy things under certain conditions, they do not unilaterally have
the right to just ignore these, as and when they see fit. They don't have to
buy it, they choose.
And to be fair, a fair price is what somebody is prepared to pay...if it
came to it, I'd like to be able to stipulate that people couldn't make
unauthorised copies of my intellectual property, and as I see it I have the
right to this, and the right to charge what I like for it. After all, if you
don't like this, don't buy it...
Apply whatever interpretations you like, but as you have a legal
perspective, kindly show *specifically* where copyright owners have suddenly
waived, or had revoked, their rights, due to AHRA or any other legislature.
Neil
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