Re: [dvd-discuss] Re: nimmer

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

--- Eric Seppanen <eds@reric.net> wrote:

Nimmer is considered one of the leading scholars on copyright, if not THE
leading scholar. I don't think the Nimmer supports the DMCA anymore, since he
wrote an article called "A Riff on Fair Use". His position below seems very
sensible, since it would be based on simple copyright infringement, which would
admit a fair use defense. 

> It's kind of hard to take this as a sensible reference when it says
> stuff like this:
> 
> "Although one can appreciate the desire of the studio to seek any and
> all legal protections it can, the copyright laws of today (and certainly
> those of tomorrow) should prove more than adequate to protect the
> studio'sinterest, even absent the proposed contract. Modifying the Divx
> software to defeat the lockout (assuming, for the sake of argument, it
> were technically possible) likely would involve either unauthorized
> reproduction of at least a portion of the copyrighted work, or the
> creation of an unauthorized derivative work.  Either way, copyright
> infringement liability would result. Moreover, any doubt about the
> impropriety of defeating anti-copying technology will likely be laid to
> rest by pending federal legislation. Thus, even on the so-called 
> bleeding edge of technology, we find it difficult to see a need for
> state law protection of copyright rights in connection with the
> mass-market distribution of copyrighted works."
> 
> If, as we all hope, the DMCA has fatal flaws, then it leaves a gaping
> hole in this argument.


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