Robin, The United States Constitution says that "The Congress shall have Power ... To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."
Note that their is some balance between the social good "Progress of Science and Useful Arts" and the individual copyright. This has come to mean, over the years, that individuals have the right to "fair use" of copyright material : "Fair use is a copyright principle based on the belief that the public is entitled to freely use portions of copyrighted materials forpurposes of commentary and criticism. For example, if you wish to criticize a novelist, you should have the freedom to quote a portion of the novelist's work without asking permission. Absent this freedom, copyright owners could stifle any negative comments about their work. Unfortunately, if the copyright owner disagrees with your fair use interpretation, the dispute will have to be resolved by courts or arbitration. If it's not a fair use, then you are infringing upon the rights of the copyright owner and may be liable for damages. The only guidance is provided by a set of fair use factors outlined in the copyright law. These factors are weighed in each case to determine whether a use qualifies as a fair use. For example, one important factor is whether your use will deprive the copyright owner of income. Unfortunately, weighing the fair use factors is often quite subjective. For this reason, the fair use road map is often tricky to navigate." http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/index.html There are other forms of fair use not mentioned in the above article, including the ability of teachers to use copyright materials in the classroom, and the ability to make a copy for personal use of something you already own. Digital Rights are problematic in that they make it impossible for an individual to exercise fair use, including the right to make a backup or alternate copy for personal use of something one already owns. My hope is that someday in the US the courts will rule the Digital Rights laws as giving too much power to the copyright holder, and being unconstitutional in that they no longer "promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts." I'm a big fan of Larry Lessig and the Creative Commons, if you can't tell! ;) ~David ---------- Original Message ------------- Subject: (313) Digital Rights Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 16:32:40 +0000 From: robin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: 313@hyperreal.org Does anyone know the legality of having a digital copy of something you already own (vinyl or cd) on your laptop? (in the US or in the EU?) This is the precedent that if it isn't EU-wide soon might be: Norway Proposes New Digital Copyright Law http://news.findlaw.com/ap/ht/1700/2-11-2005/20050211080016_40.html This kinda scuppers any use of laptops for DJing doesn't it? robin...
