limpid Posted September 20, 2012 Administrator Posted September 20, 2012 I've removed the thread. Copyright infringement is illegal and doing it on any scale is almost certainly criminal. I'm not dealing with the police because people want to boast about their illegal acts. I'll leave this thread open for people to discuss the issues around copyright infringement, but do not talk about anything you do that is illegal. For the record, even making backups is illegal in the UK.
kurtsimonw Posted September 20, 2012 Posted September 20, 2012 I thought the first reply was going to be a picture of our Mr. Woodward, I am disappoint.
kurtsimonw Posted September 20, 2012 Posted September 20, 2012 For the record, even making backups is illegal in the UK. I did not know that. For some reason I thought it was accepted. Hmm.
limpid Posted September 20, 2012 Author Administrator Posted September 20, 2012 For the record, even making backups is illegal in the UK. I did not know that. For some reason I thought it was accepted. Hmm. The record industry body has said that its members will not bring prosecution against individuals making backups or ripping for their own use. They can change their minds at any time and not all labels are members of the body. The movie industry has made no such statement.
villarule123 Posted September 20, 2012 VT Supporter Posted September 20, 2012 I always wondered why he was holding a massive dildo.
PompeyVillan Posted September 20, 2012 Posted September 20, 2012 Well, just to add to what was here before. I do believe that pirating media is wrong and is theft, although it isn't as tangible as stealing a CD from a shop. I believe that because it is unlikely that you will ever get caught pirating, people are encouraged to do it. It's almost an opportunistic theft, which when you think about it, is an ugly thing to do. It isn't the most heinous of crimes mind, but it's still a crime.
LondonLax Posted September 20, 2012 Posted September 20, 2012 I don't download movies/tv/music illegally either, I always buy. Movies are so cheap these days anyway.
saturdaygig Posted September 20, 2012 Posted September 20, 2012 Is there an irony smiley? Now there's a challenge.
limpid Posted September 20, 2012 Author Administrator Posted September 20, 2012 I do think there are two parts of copyright law which are particularly poor. I believe that where an (old?) recording is not commercial available, it shouldn't be illegal to make it available to share. I think the length of copyright term has become a joke. The continual theft of old music from the public (which is what occurs when copyright term is extended) is obscene. I don't see how copyright term can be justified as being longer than patent term. Copyright should exist to promote creativity, not restrict it.
tonyh29 Posted September 20, 2012 Posted September 20, 2012 For the record, even making backups is illegal in the UK. I did not know that. For some reason I thought it was accepted. Hmm. The record industry body has said that its members will not bring prosecution against individuals making backups or ripping for their own use. They can change their minds at any time and not all labels are members of the body. The movie industry has made no such statement. When I bought "rio" on DVD for the kids inside the sleeve you got a code to download a mobile device version of the film from I-tunes I thought it was a sensible move , don't know if more films will adopt this process ?
bickster Posted September 20, 2012 Moderator Posted September 20, 2012 Copyright law is utterly ludicrous in this country. I've already stated elsewhere in many topics my utter abhorrence of the likes of PRS, an organisation whose very existence is way past its purpose, the reason it was set up was great, that situation no longer occurs, the industry has changed. It has now effectively become an organisation that taxes you for advertising someone else's product at your own expense (however small). Think about that... I also think the whole idea that if you want something on a different format you have to pay again (in theory) utterly silly, copyrighted music should be treated as a licence for an individual to play on whatever format or device he or she likes.
Xann Posted September 20, 2012 Posted September 20, 2012 I think the length of copyright term has become a joke. The continual theft of old music from the public (which is what occurs when copyright term is extended) is obscene. I don't see how copyright term can be justified as being longer than patent term. Cliff and the big record companies kicked up a fuss, but couldn't agree on a new term which diluted their efforts somewhat. Many in the trade think the imminent copyright free status of the early Beatles back cat prompted the powers that be to act now. Another problem indie record labels have is working out who actually owns the copyright anyway. Chatting to a guy that releases various themed compilations a while back. Conscientious label, each track was researched to get the copyright holders permission and to ensure due royalties were received. No one claimed copyright on a couple of the tracks, but he thought they were important so included them anyway. Universal came down on him like a ton of bricks, made him pull it. Thing is he'd approached Universal about the tracks. They'd denied ownership, then suddenly found they did own the copyright after the CDs had hit the shops - rocket polishers.
limpid Posted September 20, 2012 Author Administrator Posted September 20, 2012 I also think the whole idea that if you want something on a different format you have to pay again (in theory) utterly silly, copyrighted music should be treated as a licence for an individual to play on whatever format or device he or she likes. It's a strange one though. If you own a licence to a copy of the music which you can move around formats as long as you only use it in one place at a time, then what happens to that licence when you die? Would you be buying a single licence in perpetuity? How would someone prove they own a licence once the original media is gone? At least the current law gives that set of questions a simple answer.
bickster Posted September 20, 2012 Moderator Posted September 20, 2012 I also think the whole idea that if you want something on a different format you have to pay again (in theory) utterly silly, copyrighted music should be treated as a licence for an individual to play on whatever format or device he or she likes. It's a strange one though. If you own a licence to a copy of the music which you can move around formats as long as you only use it in one place at a time, then what happens to that licence when you die? Would you be buying a single licence in perpetuity? How would someone prove they own a licence once the original media is gone? At least the current law gives that set of questions a simple answer. You own a legit copy of say a vinyl album / cd / cassette / dat / whatever, you should be able to have it in whatever format you like. You register your ownership to obtain the licence until the day you die. After you die only the physical media you own can be inherited. It's as good as being implemented anyway as Tony points out even the majors are doing it in the video market. The Indies have been doing it with vinyl for some time, the majors are more reluctant but eventually in the not too distant future everything will come with a download code. The sooner the majors realise this is their way of gaining control again (which they've utterly lost) the sooner it will happen. I reckon it'll be industry wide in about five years. ATM they are doing it without the licence aspect, it is a logical conclusion of what is already happening. How can Spotify be morally correct? Spotify pays about 3 peanuts for 20 million plays, it can never be seen as a profitable way to exist but the majors seemingly can't wait to chuck their artists on there (which brings me full circle to my PRS argument) because effectively is great advertising.
chrisp65 Posted September 20, 2012 Posted September 20, 2012 Going to see Alabama 3 in a short while. Their current tour they are actively advertising and encouraging people to bring along whatever device they fancy, rip, record, film and generally steal their stuff. Mess with it. Use it to create something else. Then do them the courtesy of sending it back to them to see what people did with it. They've worked out that at their scale, the music sales and steals are just a device for promoting the perpetual tour and spin off direct sales from their website and gig night goodies table.
tonyh29 Posted September 20, 2012 Posted September 20, 2012 what happens to that licence when you die? Didnt read the full article but wasn't there a headline that Bruce Willis is challenging Apple through the courts for the right to pass on his i-tunes music collection to his kids when he dies ? Currently they are non transferable or something ?
leviramsey Posted September 21, 2012 VT Supporter Posted September 21, 2012 At this point, the UK is the only at-least-largely Common Law jurisdiction that hasn't legalized ripping.
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