Aye - there lies the rub: the judicial v. the legislative branch. I am not familiar with the Berne Convention, but if it required homogenizing the copyright laws then it was the responsibility of the U.S. Congress to change the U.S. copyright laws in accordance with the treaty. My point is only that this is a political problem, and judges interpret and apply such laws as are in effect here in the U.S. The Berne Convention required legislative action, but if such legislative action was not taken by Congress then the existing copyright law is what is applied by the American judge - he is not 'flipping a bird' at international law, as the Berne Convention apparently requires changes of local law but is not substantive law in and of itself. Perhaps it's a fine distinction, but it's a distinction nevertheless.
If the Berne Convention did constitute substantive law that applies, Kelly's lawyer should have raised that issue, but he apparently did not - it was not discussed in the Circuit Court's decision or the Appellate Court's (I read them both). I do agree that filing suit is essentially futile absent a great amount of money at stake. Maris P.S. I don't see much interest in this thread except for you and me, and it is somewhat OT. Perhaps we can just agree to disagree, or if you want to discuss it further take it off-list. ----- Original Message ----- From: "William Robb" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, February 08, 2002 4:21 PM Subject: Re: Photos and Rights | ----- Original Message ----- | From: "Kevin Waterson" | Subject: Re: Photos and Rights | | | > On Fri, 8 Feb 2002 15:08:36 -0600 | > "Maris V. Lidaka, Sr." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: | > | > > I'm not justifying it world wide, only saying that under | U.S. law the thumbnails (and only the thumbnails) are legal. | > > | > > If the law is different in Canada and/or Australia, you and | Rob Studdert certainly have the right to request Lycos to remove | thumbnails of your images from their server and if they refuse | to file suit and obtain a different result. I agree that if it | is illegal under Canadian law or Australian law then it is | theft. | | One of the things the Berne Convention treaty was supposed to do | was homogonize copyright laws throughout the world, providing | the country was signatory to the treaty (both Oz, Canada and the | USA were). | However, if an American judge feels the need to flip a bird at | international law, then it really leaves people in other | countries in the lurch. | Filing suit from one country to another, especially into the | USA, which is the most protectionist country in the world, is so | incredibly futile that it isn't an option unless there is a lot | more at stake than a principal. | Maris, you know this, you are not a stupid person. | Unfortunately, the judge who made the decision inquestion also | knows it, and knows that he can get away with this sort of | flagrant abuse, because the stakes are just not great enough in | this situation to warrant coming after his decision and the | people taking advantage of it. | | William Robb | - | This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, | go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to | visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org . | | | - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
