Re: [dvd-discuss] Hang the RIAA in their own noose.

["John Zulauf" <johnzu(at)ia.nsc.com>]

From an AC at /.-- shockingly well reasoned (especially for /.). 
Anybody here want to take credit?

.002
"how does one determine the copyright duration of an anonymous work?"

--- begin block quotation ---

The answer is that technology cannot solve the problem, because
copyright is a social contract, not a set of absolute rights of control. 

There are NO technological methods to distinguish piracy from fair use.
In the end, that is a legal distinction, and is based on a number of
factors. In fact, quite often, the same, identical act can be either
infringement or fair use, based on nothing more then the intent of the
person committing the act. 

If I record a television show off the air so I can watch it later, when
I'm home, that's fair use. If I record the same television show off the
air so I can sell the videotape on ebay, that's piracy. There is
absolutely no technology that can determine what I'm going to do with
that videotape. The idea that technology offers a "solution" to the
problem is a fallacy. 

The real "problem" is that copyright law is completely out of sync with
the reality of how people use, and want to use, copyrighted works. The
problem is that copyright holders have grown far too powerful, and have
convinced Congress that they, and they alone, are the only "interested
party" in matters of copyright, when in fact, the real purpose of
copyright is not to protect them, but to serve the public by increasing
access to and the availability of creative and useful works. 

The copyright industry is struggling to reduce and control access to and
to limit the availability of copyrighted works -- the exact opposite of
the constitutional purpose of copyright. 

The "solution" is for Congress to change the laws to maximize the
availability and access to copyrighted works, through such methods as
statutory royalties, and eliminating the "right" of copyright holders to
control who may use and distribute their work. 

The problem is that unlike the recording and motion picture industries,
which pay individual Congressmen directly through campaign
contributions, the rest of the country -- the citizens at large, pay
Congress indirectly through taxes. We've created a system where no one
can get elected without selling out to the media corporations, then we
wonder why Congress keeps repealing our freedoms, but leaving exemptions
open for the recording and motion picture industries.