3 ms·

No, the crime is copyright infringement. Almost all countries have signed the Berne Convention treaty, and made copyright infringement illegal according to nati

No, the crime is copyright infringement. Almost all countries have signed the Berne Convention treaty, and made copyright infringement illegal according to national law. Theft is a different crime that has been illegal pretty much for as long as there has been laws. Pirating a movie is illegal because it is copyright infringement, not because it is theft. Therefore, calling it theft is a lie, as any lawyer can tell you.

ErrantX 17y ago
Actually the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty is the more applicable one :) (it's an extension to the Berne treaty to make it cover software). Unfortunately whilst both treaties are very specific in some aspects they are unchallenged very unspecific in other important areas. Also; they establish a civil crime not a criminal one. Theft laws may still apply here in the UK, as it is I know the only massive obstacle to infringement as theft (here in the UK) is the final article - all about the intention to deprive permanently. There are movements by certain pressure groups to get it clarified where the line is drawn. And anyway - the point the video is trying to make is that it is a "moral" theft. I think it's fair to say the copyright holder has the right to say they feel that morally a "pirate" is "stealing" from them :) (Im not defending them or the video - or trying to suggest it should be theft)
- pyre 17y ago
  > And anyway - the point the video is trying to make is that it is a "moral" theft. I think it's fair to say the copyright holder has the right to say they feel that morally a "pirate" is "stealing" from them :) The actual problem being that they don't state it that way. They don't state that it's a 'moral' theft and not a legal theft. They just state it as 'theft.' It's a PR campaign, plain and simple. They want to influence people to see stealing a car, or stealing 'candy from a baby' as the exact same thing as downloading a movie without paying for it.
vidarh 17y ago
> Theft is a different crime that has been illegal pretty much for as long as there has been laws. No, it hasn't. Copyright law was pretty much invented with the Statute of Anne which was passed in the UK in 1710. Before that some countries had printing monopolies, but no copyright.

ErrantX 17y ago

Actually the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty is the more applicable one :) (it's an extension to the Berne treaty to make it cover software). Unfortunately whilst both treaties are very specific in some aspects they are unchallenged very unspecific in other important areas. Also; they establish a civil crime not a criminal one. Theft laws may still apply here in the UK, as it is I know the only massive obstacle to infringement as theft (here in the UK) is the final article - all about the intention to deprive permanently. There are movements by certain pressure groups to get it clarified where the line is drawn. And anyway - the point the video is trying to make is that it is a "moral" theft. I think it's fair to say the copyright holder has the right to say they feel that morally a "pirate" is "stealing" from them :) (Im not defending them or the video - or trying to suggest it should be theft)

pyre 17y ago
> And anyway - the point the video is trying to make is that it is a "moral" theft. I think it's fair to say the copyright holder has the right to say they feel that morally a "pirate" is "stealing" from them :) The actual problem being that they don't state it that way. They don't state that it's a 'moral' theft and not a legal theft. They just state it as 'theft.' It's a PR campaign, plain and simple. They want to influence people to see stealing a car, or stealing 'candy from a baby' as the exact same thing as downloading a movie without paying for it.

vidarh 17y ago

> Theft is a different crime that has been illegal pretty much for as long as there has been laws. No, it hasn't. Copyright law was pretty much invented with the Statute of Anne which was passed in the UK in 1710. Before that some countries had printing monopolies, but no copyright.