RE: [dvd-discuss] Key case restores copyright balance

[microlenz(at)earthlink.net]

And the not to subtle point that "you got paid" This is FAIR USE! Now pissoff 
that someone was more clever than you are. Hope the USSC has similar 
thoughts....

From:           	"John Dempsey" <john.dempsey7@verizon.net>
To:             	<dvd-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu>
Subject:        	RE: [dvd-discuss] Key case restores copyright balance
Date sent:      	Fri, 19 Apr 2002 18:38:22 -0400
Send reply to:  	dvd-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu

> What a great detail that the posters, once transferred, were blank!
> It is the repurposing of art, presumably for artistic effect, beyond the
> intentions of the original artist.
> 
> Justice Binnie: "excessive control by holders of copyrights and other forms
> of
> intellectual property may unduly limit the ability of the public domain to
> incorporate and embellish creative innovation in the long-term interests of
> society as a whole, or create practical obstacles to proper utilization."
> 
> What a great case.  What a great ruling!
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-dvd-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu
> [mailto:owner-dvd-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu]On Behalf Of R. A.
> Hettinga (by way of Arnold G. Reinhold)
> Sent: Friday, April 19, 2002 10:58 AM
> To: dvd-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu
> Subject: [dvd-discuss] Key case restores copyright balance
> 
> 
> http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/printarticle/gam/20
> 020418/TWGEIS
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Key case restores copyright balance
> 
> 
> 
> By MICHAEL GEIST
> 
> 
> Thursday, April 18, 2002 - Print Edition, Page B16
> 
> The view that Canada's copyright law tends to favour content creators may
> soon be put to rest in light of a recent Supreme Court copyright decision.
> 
> ...
> 
> 
> The case involved a challenge by Claude Théberge, an internationally-known
> Quebec painter, against an art gallery that purchased posters of Mr.
> Théberge's work and proceeded to transfer the images found on the posters
> from paper to canvass.
> 
> The gallery's technology was state of the art -- it used a process that
> literally lifted the ink off the poster and transferred it to the canvass.
> The gallery did not create any new images or reproductions of the work,
> since the poster paper was left blank after the process was complete.
> 
> Mr. Théberge was nevertheless outraged -- he believed he had sold paper
> posters, not canvass-based reproductions -- and he proceeded to sue in
> Quebec court, requesting an injunction to stop the transfers as well as the
> seizure of the existing canvass-backed images.
> 
> Although the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the seizure, a
> divided Supreme Court overturned that decision, finding that the images
> were merely transferred from one medium to another and not reproduced
> contrary to the Copyright Act.
> 
> In reaching its decision, the Court's comments regarding the importance of
> maintaining a fair copyright balance are particularly noteworthy.
> 
> Writing for the majority of the Court, Justice Ian Binnie stated that "the
> proper balance among these and other public policy objectives lies not only
> in recognizing the creator's rights but in giving due weight to their
> limited nature . . . Once an authorized copy of a work is sold to a member
> of the public, it is generally for the purchaser, not the author, to
> determine what happens to it."
> 
> Justice Binnie then continued to emphasize the dangers of copyright that
> veers too far toward copyright creators at the expense of the public. He
> noted that "excessive control by holders of copyrights and other forms of
> intellectual property may unduly limit the ability of the public domain to
> incorporate and embellish creative innovation in the long-term interests of
> society as a whole, or create practical obstacles to proper utilization."
> 
> ...
> 
> Supporters of copyright reform have often sought to label their opponents
> as thieves looking for free music or pirated movies. With this decision it
> would appear that the opponents have been joined by a group not so easily
> dismissed: the Supreme Court of Canada.
> Michael Geist is a law professor at the University of Ottawa Law School and
> director of e-commerce law at the law firm Goodmans LLP. His Web site is
> http://www.lawbytes.com.
> mgeist@uottawa.ca
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Copyright © 2002 Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
> 
> --
> 
> 
>