On Thu, 2007-03-01 at 11:49 -0800, Paul Johnson wrote: > Joe Hart wrote: > > > I think you hit it on the head. Because it's available. One of the > > quirks of living in this liberal country is that it is _not_ illegal to > > download films and music from the internet. Some loophole in the > > copyright law. > > I always thought it was a strange dichotomy that I can't get media for free > off the internet, but I can go to the library and get the same thing that > way for free. In both cases, the producers are not compensated...
Laws vary from country to country, but under U.S. copyright law, there are a number of exceptions carved out for public and private libraries -- things libraries are allowed to do that private citizens and public companies are not. For instance, the reason you can't rent audio CDs like you can rent videos & DVDs is that the recording industry decided it didn't want to pursue a rental business model, whereas the film industry decided it did. Copyright law gives the copyright holder the authority to make that kind of decision. But libraries are nonetheless permitted to do what they do with all the material they archive, regardless of what any industry decides should be its business model(s). -- Michael M. ++ Portland, OR ++ USA "No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream." --S. Jackson -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
