Did A Court Really Reject 'Making Available'? Sorta, But Not Quite...
from the not-quite... dept
Well, try to sort this one out. Slashdot, News.com and Ray Beckerman are all saying that the court in the Elektra vs. Barker case have dealt the RIAA a "setback" by rejecting the "make available" theory of copyright infringement. That sounds good, right? But hold on. The EFF (who filed an amicus brief against the "making available" claim), Billboard and ZeroPaid are all claiming a big RIAA victory in the decision. It would certainly appear that both claims are in complete contrast to one another.The reality is somewhere in between -- but leaning very much (unfortunately) towards the RIAA's view of things. If you haven't been following the debate, the RIAA (and the MPAA) have been claiming that they can sue someone for copyright infringement if they put unauthorized files into a shared folder, i.e., making those files available to be shared. Others, such as the EFF, point out that in order to violate copyright law, you have to show that someone actually distributed the unauthorized file, otherwise, it's hard to see how they actually violated the law (i.e., no copy was made, thus no copyright violation). I find this latter argument more convincing, but it's certainly unsettled law. Courts have mostly split on the issue, with some deciding one way and others deciding the other. The RIAA likes to claim that this is settled law -- but it is not.
This latest case became a battleground over the issue, with both viewpoints getting a bunch of amicus briefs from third parties (including the Justice Department, who sided with the RIAA). It also took place in a court that is recognized as having a good grasp on copyright issues, meaning that it could weigh more heavily on other court decisions. So how did it actually play out when you have both sides claiming victory? Well, read the full confusing decision below to see:
What appears to have happened (and I'm no lawyer), is that the court was convinced that "publishing" and "distribution" are synonymous under the law. Thus, "publishing" content could be seen as "distribution." The EFF's response convincingly argues why this is wrong, but it's a bit late now. Thus, under that definition, if the court is convinced that putting a file into a shared folder is the equivalent of "publishing," then that could be a violation. However, the court hedges a bit, by saying that "making available" by itself is too broad and not clearly supported by the law (or the courts). So, as far as I can read it, it's saying that "publishing" is distribution, so the RIAA (or any other copyright holder) can get away with showing evidence of publishing. At the same time, it argues that merely "making available" isn't enough to be infringement, but if the copyright holder can convince the court that putting a file in a shared folder is the equivalent of "publishing" then that's good enough. So, yes, technically the court said making available isn't infringement, but it also expanded the definition of distribution such that it may just be a technicality that "making available" isn't infringement. This ruling pretty clearly leans towards the RIAA's belief in how copyright law should act.
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Filed Under: copyright, distribution, elektra vs. barker, making available
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Making available should only be considered a crime if the material in question is controlled or prohibited. If i had alcohol on the seat, or child porn, or explosives, maybe even cigarettes, etc...
The tricky one is going to be CD's with adult content where there's an age limitation on purchasing. Making that available to anyone without an age validation could be a crime, but of course anyone can watch the video on youtube or visit the band's myspace page so....
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hold it!
You're saying that if I leave a pack of cigarettes in plain view in my personal vehicle, or even my home, that it should be viewed as intent to distribute? Even though it would be a theft personal property, I would should guilty of making it available to get stolen?
"The tricky one is going to be CD's with adult content where there's an age limitation on purchasing. Making that available to anyone without an age validation could be a crime"
Well good thing there is a clear difference between selling goods and having the goods stolen from you.
In both your arguments you make the assumption that theft of physical goods and reproduction unlicensed intellectual property are defined under the same laws, and are both punishable under criminal law with equal weight , they are not.
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Re: Putting words in someone's mouth
hold it!
You're saying that if I leave a pack of cigarettes in plain view in my personal vehicle, or even my home, that it should be viewed as intent to distribute?"
No, (s)he wasn't saying that. First, there's that word "maybe" that should be a clue, at least for the cigarettes.
"In both your arguments you make the assumption that theft of physical goods and reproduction unlicensed intellectual property are defined under the same laws, and are both punishable under criminal law with equal weight , they are not."
The person made no such assumptions. The argument was that they SHOULD only be considered crimes in such a way, not that they actually WERE.
Also, like the vast majority of people I've come across, you seem to misinterpret "only". More to the point, you ignore its meaning entirely. To say "it should ONLY be a crime if..." does not mean the same thing as saying "it should be a crime if...". In fact, all it means is that it SHOULDN'T be a crime under any other circumstances.
Bleh. Can you tell I've had entirely too much experience on either end of a lecture on if/only if statements?
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Re:
Not to be THAT tongue in cheek, but I have a really hard time with the limitations on so-called Fair Use when I've already paid for the music. Grrr.
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RIAA Won That One.
I think the judge was saying that there is no standing precedent for the phrase "make available" in copyright law, but that the plaintiffs could go forward and attempt to make a case for the phrase and set a new standard for its use - or - they could just simply take the time he graciously granted them to change their terminology over to something very akin and already legally described. Which they'll obviously do and it'll be the new standard RIAA complaint.
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Re:
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Re: Re:
The "My Pictures" and "My Documents" folders are personal to each account made on the computer, this is true for each variant of XP and Vista. Only an administrative account can access another users folders and then must go out of his/her's way to do so.
However, what KaZaa does is create a folder, "My Downloads" in the user's "My Documents" folder and then share the contents of that folder over the KaZaa network when the application is running. An install program for the application as well as anything the user downloads is by default put into that folder.
Most users however tend not to realize that anything in that folder and thus anything they download is, by default, shared. The application doesn't make any particularly strong effort to make this obvious.
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Re: Re: Re:
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Re: Re: Re:
I think they meant to say that many file sharing programs will automatically share those folders; some will ask if you want to do this, others will just add them to a list and expect you to opt-out if you don't want them shared.
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Re: Re: Re:
Yeah, and on many Windows systems all of the users are in the "administrators" group too (because many Windows programs won't work right otherwise). That's still sharing. And no, they don't have to "go out of his/her's way" to do it.
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Subtle difference that most people probably don't
A basic tenet of American law is that ignorance is no excuse, and on paper, these people are committing a crime, under the wording now approved by the judicial whores, who are the overpaid lap dancers of the RIAA goons.
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what I got from it..
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Re: what I got from it..
IANAL but that seems less of a win for the RIAA.
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Copy-Right
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Re: Copy-Right
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Re: Re: Copy-Right
Simple, they get permission from the copyright holder first.
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Re: Re: Re: Copy-Right
So I ask again... how are they, in any way, legal here.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Copy-Right
The discussion is about "making available" files to the public. When you offer to share files with the public you are giving permission for them, as a member of the public, to access those files. It's the same kind of permission that you have to access the files on Techdirt's server that you're reading right now. We're not exactly talking about black bag jobs here where they break into your home or computer.
So I ask again... how are they, in any way, legal here.
Read what I just wrote. If you can't understand that then you're beyond my ability to help.
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Re:
This does of course make loud music in cars and sharing a movie with your family all in violation of copyright law, but obviously this doesn't get enforced.
But for how long?
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Re: Re:
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Re: Re:
my question is how can they "legally" sell a product that can only be used in an "illegal" copyright infringing way.
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Re: Re: Re:
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No, I have to disagree. We're dealing in exclusive
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Re: No, I have to disagree. We're dealing in exclu
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Re: No, I have to disagree. We're dealing in exclu
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Re: No, I have to disagree. We're dealing in exclu
And thus makes it so that the open car window analogy doesn't apply unless you would have made it obvious you wanted people to feel welcome to reach into your car (generally, its assumed thats not the case).
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Re: No, I have to disagree. We're dealing in exclu
Similarly, not until a copy is transported off someone's computing premises can it be considered "distributed". Until then it can only be considered to be "made available". This requires that either someone else comes and actually gets the copy from the premises or that the sharer upload the copy off his premises. That's the difference between "making available" and "distributing".
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Re: No, I have to disagree. We're dealing in exclusive
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Sorry about the lack of paragraph breaks...
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Re: Sorry about the lack of paragraph breaks...
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In a shared folder
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Re: In a shared folder
KaZaa allows you to view the files another user is sharing in their entirety.
The plaintiffs viewed them remotely through the KaZaa network and took screen shots, with which they were able to prove enough that the defendant may be acting illegally and were able to thus go forward through further legal options.
Inside your LAN on your network, they have no idea what your doing - until you start to share it with the internet.
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Re: In a shared folder
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This does of course make loud music in cars and sharing a movie with your family all in violation of copyright law, but obviously this doesn't get enforced.
Interesting... So you are saying - basically if an 'entity' buys it, then they can use it.
What if... let's say - the consumers banded together and formed a 'music listeners rights association' - and the association purchased the CD's/Music - would it be acceptable for anyone in the corporation or association to listen then?
I thought of that when I was thinking - well, wouldn't the 'family' be considered an 'end user' - after all, I don't buy a movie SPECIFICALLY for me, I usually buy it with the intent I will watch it with my family.
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Re:
The end-user is the individual that physically went and purchased the piece of debated entertainment.
Thats the letter of the law at least. In practice, no ones doing family movie night home raids.
Unless the movie came from KaZaa.
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Re:
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how about...
Could you then say the music was being stolen from you since you made it clear it wasn't a shared folder.
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Re: how about...
The only reason I did this is because of reading Slashdot and TechDirt blogs and understanding that having an unsecured wi-fi network is just begging for the Feds to nail me for something my neighbors did. In theory I have no problem sharing my wi-fi network with the world, but I realized one day fuck, what am I doing here, I could end up with the FBI or the RIAA breathing down my necks, and then it's up to me to prove that it wasn't me who was using the network to download kiddie porn or pirated music.
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Re: Re: how about...
Just voicing the wrong opinions in the US is enough to get you nailed, never mind your neighbors.
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I mean a couple of judges have already ruled that "making available" doesn't equal distribution and that the RIAA will have to show evidence of actual distribution to win. Then this judge comes along and says that while technically "making available" isn't distribution, it's close enough that the RIAA can still sue people for having music in a publically shared folder. Will the judge in the next trial rule the opposite way again?
How many judges do you have to get to decide in your favor before the question itself stops becoming an issue that the judge has to rule on?
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Translation
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The saddest part of the whole RIAA/"piracy" thing is nicely highlighted by this comment:
... then it's up to me to prove that it wasn't me who was using the network to download kiddie porn or pirated music.
Sad that music, once viewed as an inspiring, spirit-lifting art form, is now viewed on equal footing with child porn in the USA, due to the actions of the RIAA. Sad.
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When did I
here and here
Where in those reports did I "claim victory" or say that this decision "handed the RIAA a setback"?
Please get your facts straight.
If I thought it was such a wonderful victory why did I write to the Judge in the Warner v. Cassin case telling him that the Barker decision was wrongly decided?
The Barker decision rejected a dumb argument the RIAA had been making, and rejected all of its dumb reasoning in support of that argument. However, it sustained the complaint, and it suggested a theory the RIAA hadn't thought of to replace the rejected one. So while the decision was obviously a partial embarrassment to the RIAA lawyers, it was basically a huge victory for the RIAA.
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Re: When did I
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Intent
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Re: Intent
"It is the fool who speaks knowingly of things which he does not know."
First, the contents of a file cannot be determined from a file name. The contents themselves must be examined and that requires actually accessing the file.
Second, the mere appearance of a file in a listing does not prove that it is actually available. Some people run customized file sharing programs that advertise files as available that really aren't. This is sometimes done to circumvent sharing "rules" on some networks. The only way to determine if the file is actually available is to actually download it.
Third, even if a file is in a shared folder, who's that say that the placement and sharing was intentional? Only a court is competent to make that determination and then only after examining all the evidence in a particular case.
So, there can be questions of content, availability and intention which can not be accurately answered from a quick glance. If someone told you otherwise then they were the ones fooling you.
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The reality of the matter is that the music industry is an artist's industry. Commercialized Monet. Capitalized Van Gogh. Most artists' works aren't even worth anything until after they're dead. The world is packed with starving artists, and yet these (musical) artists think they can produce a body of work, tour a bit, and never have to work again, living off royalties. Many of them don't even bother to invest. Many just go on spending sprees or decades long benders.
This doesn't mean artists don't have their place in society or shouldn't be generously compensated. i for one believe it is the music industry that is robbing the artists, not the consumers. i'd be on a bender too if i felt so used. Does anyone really believe any of the money the industry wins in these lawsuits goes to compensating the artists? They get whatever it is they sign to under contract. The music actually belongs to the industry, the record labels themselves. Royalties are only a fraction of what the industry actually makes, which is why the industry is at all concerned.
Furthermore, there is a saturation level to the market.
That is, there is only a certain amount that anyone is ever "really" going to make from any particular album. If everyone on earth bought a copy, that'd be the limit, neglecting future unborn purchasers. What then? Tax existing sold copies to keep the money flowing? Most of us working folk still have to keep working jobs we hate. I'd love to go to the boss' office and say: "Yeah, remember the millions I saved the company by improving such and such a process, I'd like to have a piece of that savings from now until eternity." I'd probably get fired or laughed out of the office. Or how about going to past employers and asking for a handout for my aiding the company reach it's present market value. I'm sure the checks would be coming left and right. Should I get a lawyer to belabor the point? No, the answer is simple. The world just doesn't work that way.
It's probably been said a thousand times, but what they need to do is alter their business strategy so they can invest in the future. All they're doing right now is investing in the past. As far as I can tell, it's not working very well. I imagine they're spending more on the lawyers than is actually cost effective.
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I'm too tired to read everyone else's posts ...
I hate the RIAA as much as the next guy (look at next guy to see if I'm right), but the word "publish" means "to make public."
Putting copyrighted material into a shared folder for all the world to see is making it public -- you are "publishing" that material. Publishing another person's work without permission is illegal. Whether someone copies it from you is moot.
The RIAA wins this round. But only THIS round.
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If shared folders are publishing...
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I think the judge was saying
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make available
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