I'm so enjoying this thread :-)
It's very hard for me to draw the line here.
It's entirely legal to borrow or copy a friend's CD.
It's entirely legal to borrow and copy a CD from the library.
There is a specific tax paid for empty cassettes, CD's and now even hard-drives that goes to the rights organizations such as ASCAP, BECAUSE everybody knows these will be used to copy copyrighted materials.
It's also legal to save your copies on the net. It's legal to download said files.
Where it becomes illegal is when that happens clearly en masse, deliberately offering that data for download, or spreading the data actively.
Arguably also when you actually listen/enjoy said data it's illegal. Although I don't think that would stick in courts...because where do you draw the line - when it isn't a friend's MP3 rip he sent for you and when was it a professional pirate distribution???
Same difference, when I use a camera to show a book to students via a video projector. Nothing wrong with that. It's very hard to say - if I now capture the images to my laptop so I can show the same in a room with no capture camera - is that illegal?
It certainly gets illegal at least if I send the captures to my students so as they would not have to buy the book. BUT it's hard to draw the line even there.
After all, our company pays thousands and thousands per year for 'rights to copy copyrighted material' and then we have guidelines how much we can copy and how to use the copied material.
It's just plain impossibly complex and getting more and more so.
My vote goes to all that kind of stuff being free, and instead the price should be included in the SYSTEMS you use them with.
I pay hundreds a month for Internet access and various Internet services already. Why not divide a part of it to give to ASCAP etc. who in turn give money to musicians and film makers? I would be happy to pay, say 10 bucks or 20 bucks a month for right to watch/D/L anything I wish.
Dee
"When life's a biatch, be a horny dog"
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