Really? Okay.... For the sake of rounding out your universe, allow me to introduce myself. I'm your black swan. Not a failed performed or author "of some description"; not a successful one either.
As you are no doubt aware, copyright infringement describes a nearly limitless variety of scenarios and some are unarguably more egregious and intentional than others. (For example, Stephanie Lenz could reasonably embody one end of the spectrum and at the other end... I'm not certain, but media piracy rings and their leadership would probably fit the bill.)
I believe that a time-limited strictly enforceable protection for original creative expressions is a good thing. I want that to exist and I am glad that it generally does. I believe that private property rights are important and that intellectual property should be included in that word's definition.
Just as stealing a candy bar from CVS is theft, so too is robbing a bank. Just as Lenz didn't intentionally have Prince music playing I think that an honest person can accidentally steal a candy bar by absent-mindedly putting it in their pocket or something and not realizing until later. Do I think the thief did something terrible? No! Did they steal? Yeah.
I'm not sure how I feel about the provision for statutory damages in copyright infringement cases, but even in that framework the mandatory damages have a range. Lots of people know about the $150,000 maximum penalty per infringement (plus attorney's fees). It's pretty wild. But fewer people talk about the existence of a minimum: which is $250. That's a big difference, and arguably the legal system also recognizes that theft may be an accurate word in describing what's happening at both ends of the spectrum but there's a tremendous amount of nuance in there which you are obscuring by putting everyone in the same basket.
Do you engage in piracy of music / software / film / books / porn / etc.?
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: It's still theft of a kind, in other words.
As you are no doubt aware, copyright infringement describes a nearly limitless variety of scenarios and some are unarguably more egregious and intentional than others. (For example, Stephanie Lenz could reasonably embody one end of the spectrum and at the other end... I'm not certain, but media piracy rings and their leadership would probably fit the bill.)
I believe that a time-limited strictly enforceable protection for original creative expressions is a good thing. I want that to exist and I am glad that it generally does. I believe that private property rights are important and that intellectual property should be included in that word's definition.
Just as stealing a candy bar from CVS is theft, so too is robbing a bank. Just as Lenz didn't intentionally have Prince music playing I think that an honest person can accidentally steal a candy bar by absent-mindedly putting it in their pocket or something and not realizing until later. Do I think the thief did something terrible? No! Did they steal? Yeah.
I'm not sure how I feel about the provision for statutory damages in copyright infringement cases, but even in that framework the mandatory damages have a range. Lots of people know about the $150,000 maximum penalty per infringement (plus attorney's fees). It's pretty wild. But fewer people talk about the existence of a minimum: which is $250. That's a big difference, and arguably the legal system also recognizes that theft may be an accurate word in describing what's happening at both ends of the spectrum but there's a tremendous amount of nuance in there which you are obscuring by putting everyone in the same basket.
Do you engage in piracy of music / software / film / books / porn / etc.?
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by Minister of Emergency Situations.
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