Federal Court Tosses Out Anti-Bootlegging Law
from the as-if-that-will-last... dept
A federal court today tossed out a law that banned the sale of bootleg recordings of concerts, noting that the law had a variety of problems that did not fit with copyright law. First, since copyright law only deals with protecting works for a "limited time" (Eldred/Lessig notwithstanding), and the ban on selling bootlegs had no time limit, the judge found the law went against the spirit of copyright law. Much more importantly, however, the judge claimed that copyright only applies to "fixed" works such as books or released music. A bootleg, by its definition, then is not a fixed work and thus not covered by copyright law. As you might imagine, the recording industry is freaking out about this decision, and there will almost definitely be some kind of appeal. If not, expect the entertainment industry's friends in Congress to close these loopholes as quickly as possible. Of course, a more enlightened recording industry might realize that encouraging the practice of bootlegging helps increase interest in the band both for sales of recorded albums as well as the ongoing purchase of concert tickets -- but that's a much more complicated concept than "we must control absolutely everything."
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What if low prices make it less popular?
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Re: What if low prices make it less popular?
ATA
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Re: What if low prices make it less popular?
Ok, so it sounds like there is a mystique built around "good live bootlegs" because of their scarcity, the "insider" social status associated with ownership of such goods. What if many bootlegs were available everywhere all the time? Would they still be expensive?
Humans have lived for thousands of years listening to music only once in a great while, but modern societies now brainwash children from birth (or in some cases, before birth) of the "necessity" of music.
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shaky ruling
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Re: shaky ruling
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