Copyright Lawsuits Could Come to Regular Internet Users Under a New Law

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/07/life-altering-copyright-lawsuits-could-come-regular-internet-users-under-new-law

by dmitrygr • 7 years ago

78 18 7 years ago

eff.org

sieabahlpark• 7 years ago

This type of shit has been pushed for about 10 years at this point.

Who the hell wrote the bill, get them out of the Senate immediately.

comex2• 7 years ago

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/127...

Sponsored by Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), cosponsored by 14 senators (9 Democratic, 5 Republican).

annadane• 7 years ago

The same John Kennedy who lectured Zuckerberg? :/

It's really annoying. I want to be on his side and then this happens

faissaloo4• 7 years ago

I'm not too fussed, I'll just keep using this to point out the absurdity of intellectual property and we can make sure it doesn't come back after western society collapses.

Wowfunhappy• 7 years ago

I don't understand this viewpoint.

Do you really think there should be zero protections for creative works? That authors who spend years writing a book shouldn't be able to sell it?† How many movies would get created in such a world? How many software developers would exist?

I am all for reducing protections of intellectual property. I think copyright should expire after a few decades at most, with much broader and more powerful fair use exemptions in the interim. But eliminating copyright completely? I think that would severely limit the amount of artistic output in the world.

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† I recognize that authors would still technically be able to sell their books in a world without copyright. However, they would have to compete with others who just copied and pasted their text, which amounts to the same thing.

pmoriarty• 7 years ago

Not enough of us acted last time and we got stuck with the DMCA.

Let's act and get others to act so we can avoid this atrocity this time.

rxm• 7 years ago

any Internet user who uploads a copyrighted work could find themselves subject to a largely unappealable $5,000 penalty

Shared a viral amateur video? I understood that this law would allow a troll firm to contact the video creator and offer to sue you and all those that did so.

tnzk2• 7 years ago

(from outside of US) The article looks like written on the assumption that every Internet user in US is automatically an infringer. Are copyright infringement so popular there?

e1ven• 7 years ago

I am not an expert in the subject, but as far as I understand most countries in the world are party to the Byrne convention.

One of the details that this stipulates is that works are automatically copyrighted upon creation – even if you don't register work with the copyright office it still holds protection.

This means that any picture, text, or other work in a tangible medium that you share without permission could be considered potentially infringing, and leave you open to a lawsuit.

There are defenses you can argue, but that would only be after the lawsuit has already started, potentially costing you time and money for legal representation.

tnzk2• 7 years ago

I am aware of the convention, and that anything somewhat creative is supposed to be protected by copyrights.

Are people share the things without permission there, so frequently? Even if so, why should these sharing be legal?

bitwize• 7 years ago

I say, pass the law. Maybe then, people will see what a joke copyright really is and how damaging it is.

lunias• 7 years ago

Charge up your VPNs boys and girls. It's insane outside.

Copyright Lawsuits Could Come to Regular Internet Users Under a New Law

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