5 ms·

I wish more institutions 'tested the waters' with these copyright laws. Put a newspaper up from 100 years ago and see if anyone complains, if they do; take it

I wish more institutions 'tested the waters' with these copyright laws. Put a newspaper up from 100 years ago and see if anyone complains, if they do; take it down. Subtract 10 years every year until someone does complain.

Angostura 5y ago
I think you underestimate how assiduous copyright lawyers are. The automated systems would spot the post and prompt a complaint within minutes.
- cpach 5y ago
  Hm… I’m not convinced about the likeliness of that outcome. Automated systems like that are mostly used on YouTube/Facebook, aren’t they?
- sebzim4500 5y ago
  Do they really have automated systems searching for 50+ year old newspapers? Probably a lot of them haven't even been digitised before, so it would be impossible to search for them in an automated way.
  - reaperducer 5y ago
    From personal experience, I can tell you that there are automated systems searching for such pieces of art. As for newspapers, all it takes is one copyright troll to realize it's happening, and suddenly there's lawsuit settlements everywhere, making him rich.
    - jack_riminton 5y ago
      For that to happen they'd have to be the owners of the Copyright, they're not exactly patent trolls who can use the law creatively. The Newspapers are largely regional (and mostly defunct) papers. Who at the Derby Evening Telegraph is going to waste lawyers fees getting a Library to remove 100year old content?
      - pessimizer 5y ago
        Patent trolls own the patent.
        jack_riminton 5y ago
        Yes but they can creatively say it applies to a whole manner of tenuous things. A sneaky newspaper owner can’t claim copyright on anything other than what they own
      - exhilaration 5y ago
        The Derby Evening Telegraph may have sold the rights of their archives to an entity (like ProQuest) which has a financial interest in finding and shutting down competition.
    - cpach 5y ago
      The trolls can always try. OTOH I would be a little surprise if, a) one can intimidate The British Library by just sending some silly nastygrams, b) The British Library either doesn’t have in-house counsel or didn’t consult competent law firms before publishing these papers.

Angostura 5y ago

I think you underestimate how assiduous copyright lawyers are. The automated systems would spot the post and prompt a complaint within minutes.

cpach 5y ago
Hm… I’m not convinced about the likeliness of that outcome. Automated systems like that are mostly used on YouTube/Facebook, aren’t they?
sebzim4500 5y ago
Do they really have automated systems searching for 50+ year old newspapers? Probably a lot of them haven't even been digitised before, so it would be impossible to search for them in an automated way.
- reaperducer 5y ago
  From personal experience, I can tell you that there are automated systems searching for such pieces of art. As for newspapers, all it takes is one copyright troll to realize it's happening, and suddenly there's lawsuit settlements everywhere, making him rich.
  - jack_riminton 5y ago
    For that to happen they'd have to be the owners of the Copyright, they're not exactly patent trolls who can use the law creatively. The Newspapers are largely regional (and mostly defunct) papers. Who at the Derby Evening Telegraph is going to waste lawyers fees getting a Library to remove 100year old content?
    - pessimizer 5y ago
      Patent trolls own the patent.
      - jack_riminton 5y ago
        Yes but they can creatively say it applies to a whole manner of tenuous things. A sneaky newspaper owner can’t claim copyright on anything other than what they own
    - exhilaration 5y ago
      The Derby Evening Telegraph may have sold the rights of their archives to an entity (like ProQuest) which has a financial interest in finding and shutting down competition.
  - cpach 5y ago
    The trolls can always try. OTOH I would be a little surprise if, a) one can intimidate The British Library by just sending some silly nastygrams, b) The British Library either doesn’t have in-house counsel or didn’t consult competent law firms before publishing these papers.