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| From | "Stewart Mason" <craigtorso@verizon.net> |
| Subject | Re: The American Recording Industry, RIP |
| Date | Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:34:21 -0500 |
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Coxe" <audities@gmail.com>
> Stewart Mason wrote:
>> This story came up today on the radio show I wake up to every
>> morning, NPR's The Bryant Park Project. Their correspondent
>> pointed out that a lot of the news articles about this lawsuit got
>> an important detail wrong: the brief doesn't charge the guy with
>> taking his own CDs and putting them into his own computer, but with
>> putting them into a public folder on his computer, which could be
>> accessed by others. So the issue is still unauthorized
>> distribution, just on a much smaller scale than one of the P2P
>> networks.
>>
>
> Per this (& other sources), they *are* arguing ripping is a crime:
> ---- http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,319276,00.html ----
>
> However, on page 15 of a supplemental brief responding to the
> judge's technical questions about the case, the RIAA's Phoenix
> lawyer, Ira M. Schwartz, states that the defendant is also liable
> simply for the act of creating "unauthorized copies" — by ripping
> songs from CDs.
>
> Schwartz is a partner in DeConcini McDonald Yetwin & Lacy, the
> family firm of former Sen. Dennis DeConcini, R-Ariz.
>
> "It is undisputed that Defendant possessed unauthorized copies of
> Plaintiffs' copyrighted sound recordings on his computer," the brief
> states. "Virtually all of the sound recordings on Exhibit B are in
> the '.mp3' format. ... Defendant admitted that he converted these
> sound recordings from their original format to the .mp3 format for
> his and his wife's use. ... Once Defendant converted Plaintiffs'
> recording into the compressed .mp3 format and they are in his shared
> folder, they are no longer the authorized copies distributed by
> Plaintiffs."
But that's just what the guy on NPR said: the fact that the mp3s are
in the shared folder is the key, not that they're on his computer at
all. If you don't have any shared folders on your computer, this
doesn't apply to you.
> "I couldn't believe it when I read that," New York lawyer Ray
> Beckerman told the Washington Post. "The basic principle in the law
> is that you have to distribute actual physical copies to be guilty
> of violating copyright. But recently, the industry has been going
> around saying that even a personal copy on your computer is a
> violation."
Except that's not what Schwartz said.
>
> In other words, according to Schwartz's logic, every single person
> who's ever "ripped" a CD for portable listening on an iPod or other
> MP3 player could be liable for astronomical damages.
Except...that's not what Schwartz said.
Again, I'm not saying that this isn't an absolutely ludicrous attempt,
and the RIAA is undeniably full of crap, but the fact remains: way too
many news articles have been getting this story subtly but importantly
wrong.
S
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