Re: [dvd-discuss] Re: Keep Signing the Petition to Strike Down the DMCA

[Bryan Taylor <bryan_w_taylor(at)yahoo.com>]

I must have missed the original somehow.

--- Seth Johnson <seth.johnson@realmeasures.dyndns.org> wrote:
> > > http://www.PetitionOnline.com/nixdmca/petition.html
> > >
> > > Failing the rule of law, we, the People, declare "misuse of copyright"
> > > by popular decree, and thereby revoke our grant of Copyright to those
> > > works protected by chapter 12 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
> > > until such time as the government restores the Copyright Act to a form
> > > consistent with the Constitution and the will of the people.
> > 
> > Hi:  So, the above paragraph is interesting.  What's that translate into?
> > Sounds good, though.  Thanks, Tom

I had someone write me and say that they could not sign the petition because of
that last paragraph. I wrote back and said that the last paragraph is the moral
justification for peaceful civil disobediance in the face of industry coruption
of the government. When the government seeks to rule in a way that is contrary
to the Constitution, peaceful civil disobediance is called for. 

Misuse of copyright, says that when a copyright holder uses his limited grant
of copyright for ends counter to the Constitutional purpose of copyright, such
as anticompetitive business practices, etc... that the penalty is that the
copyright will be unenforcable until the infractions are remedied. 

The foundational case for misuse of copyright is Lasercomb v. Reynolds, where
it was held that "A successful defense of misuse of copyright bars a culpable
plaintiff from prevailing on an action for infringement of the misused
copyright." This case elaborates at length on the existence of the concept, and
traces its foundation to the related concept of misuse of patents, endorsed by
the Supreme Court in the Morton Salt case. 

See: http://www.bowie-jensen.com/computerlaw/lasercomb.html

The idea of "popular" misuse of copyright is language I invented to try to name
the unspoken beliefs of people who do not feel they are doing anything wrong
when they ignore certain copyright rules that are counter to the delegated
power given to Congress. Most importantly, the concept draws a line short of
rejection of all copyright.


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