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> since a verbatim copy isn't transformative at all It's not a verbatim copy; the argument specifically involved converting content from one format (physical b

> since a verbatim copy isn't transformative at all It's not a verbatim copy; the argument specifically involved converting content from one format (physical book) to another (ebook). > Everyone would do better to lobby Congress Good luck outspending the big publishers. How many people who work for a living does it take to match Disney's capacity to bribe Congresscritters?

dragonwriter 4y ago
Format shifting can either be a verbatim copy (as it was in this case), or also involve editing (which this case did not.) Personal-use format shifting has sometimes been found to be fair use; but this is not that. > How many people who work for a living does it take to match Disney’s capacity to bribe Congresscritters? Don’t have to bribe if you have enough people convincingly committed to vote on the issue.
baryphonic 4y ago
> How many people who work for a living does it take to match Disney's capacity to bribe Congresscritters? Why so cynical? Who's more captured: Congress or the IP Bar? If everyone commenting and reading about this on HN called their members of Congress within a few hours on Monday afternoon, there would be serious buzz on Capitol Hill. Several hundred to a few thousand people all calling in about a similar issue to members of both parties is noticed. Remember the "SOPA" thing Big Content tried to ram through a decade ago? It failed because dozens upon dozens of members were spooked. You know why lobbyists are listened to? They're not "bribing" members of Congress; they are simply presenting an unrebutted story. EDIT: forgot to address the "transformative" thing. Format shifting is not transformative, any more than bootlegging a movie in the theater or taking a photo of a copyrighted piece hanging in a gallery are. The meaning of the work is almost certainly identical whether it's on a physical page or on a screen.

dragonwriter 4y ago

Format shifting can either be a verbatim copy (as it was in this case), or also involve editing (which this case did not.) Personal-use format shifting has sometimes been found to be fair use; but this is not that. > How many people who work for a living does it take to match Disney’s capacity to bribe Congresscritters? Don’t have to bribe if you have enough people convincingly committed to vote on the issue.

baryphonic 4y ago

> How many people who work for a living does it take to match Disney's capacity to bribe Congresscritters? Why so cynical? Who's more captured: Congress or the IP Bar? If everyone commenting and reading about this on HN called their members of Congress within a few hours on Monday afternoon, there would be serious buzz on Capitol Hill. Several hundred to a few thousand people all calling in about a similar issue to members of both parties is noticed. Remember the "SOPA" thing Big Content tried to ram through a decade ago? It failed because dozens upon dozens of members were spooked. You know why lobbyists are listened to? They're not "bribing" members of Congress; they are simply presenting an unrebutted story. EDIT: forgot to address the "transformative" thing. Format shifting is not transformative, any more than bootlegging a movie in the theater or taking a photo of a copyrighted piece hanging in a gallery are. The meaning of the work is almost certainly identical whether it's on a physical page or on a screen.