[Ldsoss] Boy Scouts get a "Respect Copyrights" activity badge

[Jay Askren]

Maybe we need to have someone create another mailing list covering
intellectual property, copyright law, and what is legal and what is not.
This topic seems to come up a lot, and I it seems that people really like to
argue about it.  It would be nice if these arguments would move to another
list so we could get back to creating open source software.




On 10/25/06, Shawn Willden <shawn-ldsoss at willden.org> wrote:
>
> With apologies to Manfred, I have to clarify a couple of things here :-)
>
> Note that IANAL, but I have read the law and I have been following these
> issues closely for years.
>
> On Wednesday 25 October 2006 07:01, Steven H. McCown wrote:
> > On Tuesday, October 24, 2006 7:49 AM Jesse Stay wrote:
> > Fair use only
> > says that once you have copyrighted material, that ***you*** are allowed
> to
> > make a backup copy and to quote from it.
>
> Actually, Fair Use doesn't say that, either.  Fair use says that some
> otherwise infringing usage may be legal and gives a list of criteria for a
> court to consider.  (http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html).  It's not
> clear that backups or format shifting qualifies.
>
> US Copyright law does make explicit provision for backup copies of
> software,
> but that doesn't apply to music or movies (Title 17 USC, section 117,
> paragraph (a)(2)).
>
> Though it certainly seems like format shifting *should* be legal, the law
> doesn't say it is, and AFAIK there's no clear legal precedent other than
> recording of broacdast programming.  And that precedent relies on the fact
> that the copyright holder authorized sending the material to your home
> over
> the airwaves, so it's not clear that the precedent is really applicable.
>
> > It does not provide for general
> > purpose download sites to exist.  Breaking encryption is also prohibited
> > unless certain conditions are met.
>
> "Breaking encryption" is not prohibited.  Circumventing copy protection
> technologies is.  Basically, you're allowed to circumvent copy protection
> technologies for any purpose that would otherwise be legal (Title 17 USC
> section 1201 paragraph (c)).  However, it's illegal to create, import or
> distribute circumvention tools, so it's not clear how you can legally
> acquire
> the means to exercise your legal right to circumvent for Fair Use
> (assuming
> you can determine what Fair Use is).
>
> > We obey the law, while, if we so choose, working to change it.
>
> I certainly agree it needs to be changed.  The Digital Consumer's Bill of
> Rights is just what we need (digitalconsumer.org/bill.html).
>
> In the meantime, I feel no moral obligation to obey the part of the law
> that
> prohibits me from downloading libdvdcss so I can watch DVDs on my
> computer.
>
> I also bought a t-shirt with the decss code printed on it, back when
> encryption still fell under the ITAR rules, making the t-shirt an illegal
> munition under the law, right next to machine guns and RPGs.
>
> Sometimes the law is *wrong*.
>
> > The new Boy Scout patch may serve Hollywood, but it also serves to
> educate
> > in an effort to teach Scouts about the current law.
>
> No, it does not.
>
> It serves to teach Scouts about a small portion of the current law, and
> from
> what I read of it, distorts even that.  And, frankly, *any* discussion of
> copyright law that covers only the regulations and not the rationale
> behind
> them is lacking to the point of being misleading.
>
> > Don't confuse your opinion of what the law should be with what the law
> is...
>
> And be sure that you know what the law is, too -- most people who debate
> this
> topic don't!
>
> Though fully understanding the case law would be difficult, the core of
> the
> black-letter law isn't that big, or that hard to understand.  Read it at
> http://www.copyright.gov/title17/
>
>        Shawn.
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