[TriLUG] Re: Copyright protection

[Andrew Perrin]

On Wed, 6 Aug 2003, John Beimler wrote:

> Andrew Perrin wrote:
> > On Wed, 6 Aug 2003, Gnu Man wrote:
> >
> >>I was hoping to find some documentation that would not hold the users or
> >>developers responsible for code that they did not know was obtained
> >>illegally.
> >
> >
> > Users aren't civilly responsible for using code they didn't know was
> > obtained illegally. What SCO is trying to do is alert such users that they
> > may be doing so, then extort^H^H^H^H^H^H charge licensing fees for it as a
> > way of guaranteeing not to sue the users in the future.  The point is
> > that, if a judge is smoking something strong enough to find a credible
> > case here, no linux user will be able to claim s/he didn't know the code
> > was obtained illegally, since SCO has been playing it up.
> >
>
> But at least according to Eben Moglen (FSF council) users don't have to
> pay a fee for using copyrighted works. People who copied the works
> should be held accountable, but there is not a fee for use of
> copyrighted work. Otherwise, there would be no free libraries would be
> illegal, and all copyright works would have a pay per use clause. You
> wouldn't be able to look at pictures someone else is looking at, listen
> to music with friends or read a used newspaper without paying in the
> world you describe.

That's very true, and I only read the Moglen piece after I wrote the
message above. However, my understanding is that the DMCA made changes to
this principle, at least insofar as it affects certain artistic works,
e.g., music and video.  But Moglen's larger point still holds, it seems to
me:

"When a copyright holder says 'You have one license from me, but I deny
that license applies; take another license at a higher price and I'll
leave you alone,' what reason is there to expect any better faith in the
observance of the second license than there was as to the first?"

ap


----------------------------------------------------------------------
Andrew J Perrin - http://www.unc.edu/~aperrin
Assistant Professor of Sociology, U of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
clists at perrin.socsci.unc.edu * andrew_perrin (at) unc.edu