5 ms·

Being open to litigation does not destroy you. Also a contract is serious business.

dzaima 3y ago
Unfortunately, saying "contract is serious business" helps nobody. Much as it would be nice to not have to encounter any contracts (or even just not obscenely many) in the modern world, that is just largely not impossible, so people have to deal with it somehow, and it would be nice if that doesn't include random $150000 fines. I can see an argument for the copyright trolls on it being wilful infringement if there was some attribution but not all of it - clearly the infringer is aware that there must be attribution otherwise there wouldn't be any, but they still ended up infringing; of course a court could still decide either way, but most sane people without millions of disposable money wouldn't risk the $150k if they can pay a couple thousand and be done with it; and either of those can still destroy a person.
- mgaunard 3y ago
  You don't really expose yourself to such copyright infringement unless you redistribute somebody else's work. If you're gonna do that, you better make sure you're allowed to and under what conditions.
  - inglor_cz 3y ago
    "If you're gonna do that, you better make sure you're allowed to and under what conditions." That still doesn't justify a 150 000 USD statutory punishment in my view. Banal mistakes should be punished by a banal slap on the wrist.
    - mgaunard 3y ago
      Calling the mistake "banal" is already a judgement call. If the requirement is in the license then presumably whoever emitted the license cared about the clause being respected to the letter.
inglor_cz 3y ago
"Being open to litigation does not destroy you." The result of said litigation absolutely can, as far as you consider "crushing fees" a personal destruction. I definitely do. "Also a contract is serious business." What does it even mean? That you are fond of heavy punishments? Shouldn't there be a principle of proportionality applied? Driving is a serious business too, does not mean that each DUI is met with a 150 000 USD fine. I still can't help but wonder how your "crush them all" attitude does not reflect the possibility that you can be on the receiving end of such blow. Or perhaps you just prefer a world in which anyone can be destroyed for banal incidents. Weird. What is the upside of that? People will still make mistakes, and, moreover, people will start avoiding any creative work, thus creating an enormous invisible cost to society.
- mgaunard 3y ago
  You're mixing together matters pertaining to criminal cases (a DUI is a threat to society) and civil disputes (people have a disagreement about money) in ways that don't make sense at all. Copyright infringement aims to compensate the original author for the work he did that was not compensated for. There being a statutory fee not only streamlines the process and simplifies the otherwise hard evaluation of potential loss, but also discourages copyright infringement to begin with. A DUI is more about making sure you don't put other people at risk, so instead the government will take away your driving license or put you in prison.

Unfortunately, saying "contract is serious business" helps nobody. Much as it would be nice to not have to encounter any contracts (or even just not obscenely many) in the modern world, that is just largely not impossible, so people have to deal with it somehow, and it would be nice if that doesn't include random $150000 fines. I can see an argument for the copyright trolls on it being wilful infringement if there was some attribution but not all of it - clearly the infringer is aware that there must be attribution otherwise there wouldn't be any, but they still ended up infringing; of course a court could still decide either way, but most sane people without millions of disposable money wouldn't risk the $150k if they can pay a couple thousand and be done with it; and either of those can still destroy a person.

mgaunard 3y ago
You don't really expose yourself to such copyright infringement unless you redistribute somebody else's work. If you're gonna do that, you better make sure you're allowed to and under what conditions.
- inglor_cz 3y ago
  "If you're gonna do that, you better make sure you're allowed to and under what conditions." That still doesn't justify a 150 000 USD statutory punishment in my view. Banal mistakes should be punished by a banal slap on the wrist.
  - mgaunard 3y ago
    Calling the mistake "banal" is already a judgement call. If the requirement is in the license then presumably whoever emitted the license cared about the clause being respected to the letter.

inglor_cz 3y ago

"Being open to litigation does not destroy you." The result of said litigation absolutely can, as far as you consider "crushing fees" a personal destruction. I definitely do. "Also a contract is serious business." What does it even mean? That you are fond of heavy punishments? Shouldn't there be a principle of proportionality applied? Driving is a serious business too, does not mean that each DUI is met with a 150 000 USD fine. I still can't help but wonder how your "crush them all" attitude does not reflect the possibility that you can be on the receiving end of such blow. Or perhaps you just prefer a world in which anyone can be destroyed for banal incidents. Weird. What is the upside of that? People will still make mistakes, and, moreover, people will start avoiding any creative work, thus creating an enormous invisible cost to society.

mgaunard 3y ago
You're mixing together matters pertaining to criminal cases (a DUI is a threat to society) and civil disputes (people have a disagreement about money) in ways that don't make sense at all. Copyright infringement aims to compensate the original author for the work he did that was not compensated for. There being a statutory fee not only streamlines the process and simplifies the otherwise hard evaluation of potential loss, but also discourages copyright infringement to begin with. A DUI is more about making sure you don't put other people at risk, so instead the government will take away your driving license or put you in prison.