Comments on: Wednesday open thread

By: Jim Lucas

Jim Lucas — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 01:52:31 +0000

#10 Thank you. Agreed.

Scott…you’ve been watching too many promotions for Les Miserables.

By: Jim Lucas

Jim Lucas — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 01:47:49 +0000

#1 Yes. It is theft. Copywright & content theft. The product is an entity.

Am I all that worried about it? Hmmm. But I do not rationalize your theft.

By: Sandi Saunders

Sandi Saunders — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 23:05:48 +0000

Wouldn’t it be great if these were the kinds of problems we had to worry over?

By: Luanne R.

Luanne R. — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:17:11 +0000

First case: yes.
Second case: sounds like a yard sale.

I’m not sure what I think of your touching scenario of the little girl laboriously copying a book. I could make round-about arguments all of which just leads down the slippery slope that muddies up ethics.

By: 89Hoo

89Hoo — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:09:55 +0000

7 – first case, definitely theft.

Second case, I think so, but what a moron.

By: Scott M.

Scott M. — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 21:52:37 +0000

@6 89Hoo, I agree the laws were written for the most part to stop those who would make many copies and sell them and not really for the small time copier.

Just to muddy the waters a bit although I sense no one feels like playing along:

1) If someone paid $15 for a legitimate copy and then made many hundreds of copies for sale at $5/disc, is that theft?

2) If someone paid $15 for a legitimate copy, watched it, made NO copies, and then sold it for $5, is that theft?

Sorry folks, but I’m a little bored and I find these types of questions fascinating.

I’ll check back tomorrow.

By: 89Hoo

89Hoo — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:10:00 +0000

4 – probably, legally, yes. Morally and ethically…a grey area (in my non-lawyer opinion).

I think as long as she kept them for her own benefit and did not try to sell copies to her friends, it wouldn’t be worth the trouble to prosecute. Same as with the person who copies the DVD.

Those laws are designed to prevent against the person who makes a lot of illegal copies and then sells them himself. I doubt they’d worry about someone who did it just for himself.

By: 89Hoo

89Hoo — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:45:44 +0000

1 – yes, theft, legally, morally and ethically. Is the movie (the production, not the physical DVD) not a tangible item?

2 – also theft, though probably only morally and ethically. I’m sure the lawyers made sure the letter of the law was followed (if not the spirit).

By: Scott M.

Scott M. — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:36:32 +0000

@3 Luanne, thanks for the quick reply.

Along those lines, I read about a girl that hand copied the Harry Pottery book because she couldn’t afford a copy. Does this qualify as theft also?

http://xo.typepad.com/blog/2005/09/girl_copies_har.html

By: Luanne R.

Luanne R. — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:10:44 +0000

@1 Scott, it is theft. You now possess the item that you wanted without having paid for it. That it might not have all the packaging does not matter. It was not yours to copy. If you wanted the DVD for a lesser price, you could have shopped around for it and found it at the price you were willing to pay. Or if you wanted to watch it just once for free, you could have checked it out of the library again.