Europeans Lose Fair Use Rights
from the this-isn't-about-fairness... dept
Since things have been pretty busy here in the US keeping up with all the content companies suing their best customers, I hadn't necessarily been keeping up on the details of intellectual property laws elsewhere. According to this article, the dreaded The European Union Copyright Directive goes into effect today, making it illegal to make any sort of copy of a "DVD, CD or music file" (which one of these does not fit with the others?). Apparently, even if you make a backup copy only for personal use, you're facing criminal charges and the possibility of two years in jail. If the article is correct, taking a CD you own, ripping an MP3 and putting it on your iPod is now illegal. Actually, from the sound of this, using your iPod for anything other than songs you own the copyright on may be illegal. Good job, Europe.
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Can't see how
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Larger Agenda?
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No Subject Given
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Not too sure about this...
As a side note, there is another important directive whose deadline did expire on the 31st October, which is directive 2002-58. It's related (amongst other topics) to the use of cookies and spam, and forces member states to implement an opt-in system towards spam. Sounds like a good plan to me, but it has nothing to do with the EUCD.
So is the article completely misguided, or am I totally missing something here?
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