Free Subtitles = Two Years In Jail?
from the but-why? dept
This one was submitted last week, and a few other sites had stories about it late last week or over the weekend, but the more I thought about it, the more ridiculous it became. It's the story of a group of folks in Poland getting arrested after having their homes raided for creating free translation subtitles for various movies. Not only is this considered copyright infringement in Poland, but it could net the pro bono translators two years in jail. This raises the question that no one seems willing to answer: under what logical basis could you possibly see this as a crime worth two years in jail? The most interesting part is that the guy who runs the site that distributes these subtitles claims that official translators often use the unofficial translations from the site. In other words, they're helping the industry in many cases -- and now police time (both German and Polish police) was wasted for no good reason, followed up by eventual court time and resources wasted. Aren't there more important things for German and Polish police to be taking care of these days? More importantly, though, what does it say about copyright law in Poland that creating an unofficial translation of a movie is considered a crime punishable by two years in jail?
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These are probably the concerns:
1. Someone could just read the transcripts like a book and not watch the movie.
2. Another issue is that there may be words or terms that get changed for that country due to political correctness. The movie may not authorize those specific subtitles as they might offend people due to a bad translation.
3. These translations are targeted to the pirated video download market. It helps make it easier for people to download movies illegally when they can understand what is going on. When the movies come out in Poland, they will have the appropriate subtitles.
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Re:
The second reason doesn't stand either. If some Polish dude writes a subtitle saying "Hitler was a great guy" where the movie doesn't even say it, the viewer might get mad at the Polish dude, not at the producers of the movie, right?
The third reason is a fallacy of negative consequences. Selling knifes also helps people stab each other, and they are not banned, AFAIK.
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Soviet Era Prison Time for Bablefish
Surprising parallels here between Communism and *AAism.
As for JJ's comments above:
1. I don't see how people would find reading subtitles a substitute for the movie. It's not plausible.
2. I don't think political correctness should have a criminal penalty. That's insane.
3. If person X copies a movie it's THEIR copyright infringement. Why should this other person, PERSON Y, face jail time just because person X finds it easier to copy the movie?
What next, prison time for Bablefish?
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Ultimately futile
The problem here is the more they tighten copyright and IP protections to benefit a small class of individuals (mostly corporations), the more the general population is going to simply ignore even the historical "legitimate" use of copyright. This has, in fact, already started to happen. I know quite a few people who used to be hardcore supporters of copyright stop caring about it altogether the more organizations/companies like the RIAA and Disney tighten their restrictions. This only really hurts the people copyright was actually designed to help.
In the end it doesn't really matter what they make "legal" or "illegal", society as a rule will merely ignore what they consider to be bad laws and regulations. And if the industry and governments think they can eventually enforce acceptance of these rules permanently, I suggest they go pick up some history books and read how successful other cultures/societies have been in the long run.
I particularly recommend some reading of Colonial America in the 1700's. Oh, sure the British were able to enforce their dictates and "laws" for a couple of decades, but in the end the backlash was simply too much. The same will eventually happen here.
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suck ya mom
init....
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Everone here so PC that not even one Polock joke comes out?
See, the RIAA and MPAA don't seem all that bad now do they?
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That is messed up.
I'm going to go start my own country. Who wants to come with me?
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Enough is Enough !
Oh, wait a minute...
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way different
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World of Crazies
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Answer
*ahem*
Americaaaaa, fuck yeeaaahh!!
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I've come here for an argument
But, when you think about it, subtitling a film is a vital step in pirating movies made in a foreign language. Obviously no one is going to attempt to watch a movie in a language they don't know unless it has subtitles. . . with the exception of porn. And why would a studio go to the expense of making a legitimate localization when the audience there has already seen a much cheaper pirated copy several months ago? I know at first it seems like a victimless crime, but imagine how much copyright holders could make in Poland if their attempts weren't sabotaged from the get go. That money ultimately would go into the production of more movies, which if you can follow my reaganesque logic, will trickle down to the poor families of under payed theater cleaners and video store employees. Thus moistening their miserable existence with droplets of hope.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go watch some fan-subbed anime.
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Aren't there more important things for German and Polish police to be taking care of these days?
Yes, the German police are busy arresting and imprisoning those who doubt the official/approved version of the so-called "holocaust". Look up Germar Rudolf and Ernst Zundel. The "Thought Police" are alive and well and living in many European countries and are eager to arrive in the US. Being imprisoned and fined for thought crimes is now happening in many countries.
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My only hope is escape.:( I`m dreaming about study at university in USA. My only problem is english;) because in Poland isn`t appropriate books to studies english. Here is terrible.:( Help me
I`m shame on `my` country.
...and this is really crazyyyyy. Miserable youths. They`re 20-30 years old. And Attack carry out at 6.00am.
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Re:
Poland is EU member now. You can go anyplace you want.
So stop complaining at your country. If you don't like it - change it but remember: fatherland is only one!
I'm shame on YOU for this topic! And other Poles should be as well.
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