Wikipedia blackout to protest SOPA

[Quantum Windbag]

The use of the public image of a long-dead comic is reached by SOPA?

The scene from Animal House is

So you claim.

Now, go ahead and prove it with appropriate quotation from the language of the proposed legislation.

Ever here of copyright? In case you missed the news today, the Supreme Court just ruled that Congress can retroactively extend copyrights, anything made after 1923 is covered.

Supreme Court Says Congress May Re-Copyright Public Domain Works | Threat Level | Wired.com

Animal House was released in 1978. Any use of any image from that film without permission is infringment.

What is copyright infringement?
As a general matter, copyright infringement occurs when a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work without the permission of the copyright owner.

U.S. Copyright Office - Definitions (FAQ)

As for SOPA itself.

(a) Definition- For purposes of this section, a foreign Internet site or portion thereof is a `foreign infringing site' if--
(1) the Internet site or portion thereof is a U.S.-directed site and is used by users in the United States;
(2) the owner or operator of such Internet site is committing or facilitating the commission of criminal violations punishable under section 2318, 2319, 2319A, 2319B, or 2320, or chapter 90, of title 18, United States Code; and
(3) the Internet site would, by reason of acts described in paragraph (1), be subject to seizure in the United States in an action brought by the Attorney General if such site were a domestic Internet site.

Bill Text - 112th Congress (2011-2012) - THOMAS (Library of Congress)

Post that gif on a foreign site under SOPA and watch as Universal Studios uses the government to take the site down. Do you really think that, once they have that power, they will not go after US sites that do the same thing?

 

[Quantum Windbag]

The scene from Animal House is

So you claim.

Now, go ahead and prove it with appropriate quotation from the language of the proposed legislation.

Therein lies the problem. The language is so open ended that it can (and probably will) be interpreted in anyone's favor who claims ownership of that scene/movie but the real issue is the backers of the bill will use it, as they have used others in the past, to stifle competition, specifically the re-sale market, which they've been after for decades but have been stopped in the courts. Part of this legislation is an obvious end run around the court decisions protecting the re-sale community.

Not to mention that it is actually pretty easy to follow the convoluted logic if you think like a lawyer.

 

[JamesInFlorida]

does being a shill for MPAA pay well?

Honestly I'm more concerned with the music industry than the movie industry (because I'm more familiar with it). I know someone who used to own a very popular music store here. Guess what online pirating did? But him out of business.


It's not about saving the record companies-they make money from tours/concerts (most people don't realize this). Pirating music hurts the engineers, soundboard techs, printing companies, music stores, etc. that all benefit from new music releases.

It doesn't just take money away from rich musicians (which most of them are not) and record companies. It kills jobs for many, many more people. Yet people are still for this. Hard working people who make a honest living losing their businesses and ability to support themselves and their families, all because some people want to steal music is not acceptable.

edit: with that said I never stated on this board that I'm for this new legislation. But more needs to be done to stop pirating online.

I don't think it was "pirating" that put him out of business. I think it was the internet in general.

There are more legal ways to buy music online than there are illegal ways to download it. Retail CD sales are dropping for the same reason that 8-tracks don't sell anymore.

According to Nielsen 2011 was the first time since 04 that music sales have gone up (they've been dropping significantly since 04). That includes legally downloaded music.

Follow Nielsen's numbers for releases and how much it takes to reach the top spot on the billboard 200. Not to mention the number or platinum and gold records are declining.

 

[JamesInFlorida]

You do realize that under SOPA your Avatar and Sig line would make USMB, and the other boards you've frequented, a target.

Most folks consider piracy a problem. Most folks want to support their favorite artists, authors, and directors, but something as poorly written and far reaching as SOPA is not the answer.... That is unless you like how the Internet works in China.

The use of the public image of a long-dead comic is reached by SOPA?

The scene from Animal House is

It's short enough so he wouldn't have to worry about breaking copy-right laws under the fair use act. It's why you can use songs for a few seconds (or just loop those seconds) over and not have to worry about it.

Fair use act states:

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

-it's clearly a short clip (3). One could also argue for #4 as it has no effect on the market place or the value of the work.

Seriously those who are so dead set against the copy-right laws should probably learn them first.

 

[Photonic]

The use of the public image of a long-dead comic is reached by SOPA?

The scene from Animal House is

It's short enough so he wouldn't have to worry about breaking copy-right laws under the fair use act. It's why you can use songs for a few seconds (or just loop those seconds) over and not have to worry about it.

Fair use act states:

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

-it's clearly a short clip (3). One could also argue for #4 as it has no effect on the market place or the value of the work.

Seriously those who are so dead set against the copy-right laws should probably learn them first.

So you want the movie and music industry to be the police of the internet.

 

[Uncensored2008]

SOPA won't stop people stealling. On top of that, stealing is not half the problem people claim it is.

No, it's about 10,000 times the problem people claim it is.

That annoying DRM on blue ray, DVD, CD's and video games? Thank the thieves. If people stole from regular stores the way they steal digital content, the registers at Walmart would be empty but the exits crowded with people taking out their stolen merchandise. I read that 98% of the copies of Windows in China are stolen - pirated. 83% of all software in China is stolen.

Software piracy rate statistics - countries compared - Nation Master

The USA is the most honest country in the world when it comes to - well everything (democrats are working hard to change this!) - but particularly digital media. Still, 20% of all software is stolen. Would we be proud if we could say that only one in five cars on the road was stolen? I mean, in Armenia, 9 out of 10 are stolen, so we're doing good, right?

 

[manifold]

100% of all the air we breath is stolen.

True story.

 

[Photonic]

SOPA won't stop people stealling. On top of that, stealing is not half the problem people claim it is.

No, it's about 10,000 times the problem people claim it is.

That annoying DRM on blue ray, DVD, CD's and video games? Thank the thieves. If people stole from regular stores the way they steal digital content, the registers at Walmart would be empty but the exits crowded with people taking out their stolen merchandise. I read that 98% of the copies of Windows in China are stolen - pirated. 83% of all software in China is stolen.

Software piracy rate statistics - countries compared - Nation Master

The USA is the most honest country in the world when it comes to - well everything (democrats are working hard to change this!) - but particularly digital media. Still, 20% of all software is stolen. Would we be proud if we could say that only one in five cars on the road was stolen? I mean, in Armenia, 9 out of 10 are stolen, so we're doing good, right?

US.

Most...

Honest...

Country...


Folks, you can't make shit like this up.

Do you know who Gabe Newell is?

 

[Uncensored2008]

Oh.... so you think only OWS types are pirating? Gimme a fucking break.

20% of software is pirated, the OWS Shitters are 1/10th of 1% of the population. Clear enough that they are not the universe of pirates. However, we can be sure that 99% of the software they had was stolen.

I worked in the industry and held my own PC business for a couple of years before deciding it wasn't worth it. You want to know WHO wanted software for nothing most? That's right... businesses.

Bullshit.

The #1 pirated piece of software in history is COD Modern Warfare 3, you figure business is lining up on IRC to download that.

MS office, Quickbooks, hell... one guy tried to tell me that I didn't enclose the Win 2000 Pro disc with his PC that I built him and wanted another one. When I told him we'll have to call Microsoft to get a replacement disc(because I certainly didn't have it), he spilled the beans to me that he was hoping that I'd just cave in and give him one of my other OEM copies so he'd have another license for nothing.

Yawn.

Even if what you claim is true, which is unlikely - in the time the fool spent with you, 30,000 copies were downloaded across IRC. Real software pirates don't beg some doofus in a strip mall for Office, they hit the Warez boards send the bots out to get what they want.

Games and shit yep... there are lots of people who do that... not just OWS guys. I find your premise flawed and bigoted.

Shitters are going to steal every time - you know that. It's the entitlement mentality, the belief that everyone owes them whatever they want. But Shitters alone don't account for the total problem.

 

[Dr.Traveler]

The use of the public image of a long-dead comic is reached by SOPA?

The scene from Animal House is

It's short enough so he wouldn't have to worry about breaking copy-right laws under the fair use act. It's why you can use songs for a few seconds (or just loop those seconds) over and not have to worry about it.

Fair use act states:

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

-it's clearly a short clip (3). One could also argue for #4 as it has no effect on the market place or the value of the work.

Seriously those who are so dead set against the copy-right laws should probably learn them first.

Under SOPA before you had a chance to argue that Liability or T's clips were fair use the courts would have shut down PayPal funds, blacklisted USMB from Google, and dropped you from the DNS servers. Then they contact the owner of USMB.

That means these "fair use" clips would have disrupted this site for days if not weeks while Gunny argues with a team Of corporate lawyers.

This is the power you want the government and the lawyers to have over the net?

 

[Uncensored2008]

MIRC and Warez holy shit there's two terms I haven't heard in 15 years.

You quit stealing?

I find that surprising?

MIRC remains the #1 piracy tool.

mIRC: Internet Relay Chat client

Not all IRC is piracy, but pretty much all piracy is on IRC.

 

[Old Rocks]

LOL. So typical that our 'Conservatives' talk about freedom and support the fascism of the corporations seeking control over the net. Keep your god damned hands off of the net. Kissing Murdoch's ass seems to be a habit for you people.

 

[Uncensored2008]

The only game companies piracy destroyed were the ones that spent more time preventing people from playing their games than they did making thier games better. Steam had a massive piracy problem in Russia, they opened an office there and it disappeared.

{Because of piracy, Crytek President Cevat Yerli said the follow up to 2007's release of Crysis, Crysis Warhead, will be the last PC exclusive from the developer. Back in April, Yerli asserted that games like Crysis on consoles would "sell factors of 4 [to] 5 more." This is not to say that the company is abandoning the platform, but that the company will branch out to support the consoles as well. "It takes nothing away from the PC gamer if the game is also available on another platform," said Seeley. }

Crytek's Piracy Crysis - PC News at IGN

Pirates destroyed the genre.

MAYBE Steam can bring it back, I hope so. Steam has done more to end piracy than any DRM scheme, that's for sure.

People want the games, and are willing to pay for them. Give them a chance and they will. Refuse to sell to them and they will steal it.

So the theft of Crysis was because people couldn't buy it?

Shoot, I didn't have any trouble.

Making laws won't stop anything, changing the way you do business will.

I guess we ought to legalize shoplifting as well, just to be consistent.

 

[Photonic]

LOL. So typical that our 'Conservatives' talk about freedom and support the fascism of the corporations seeking control over the net. Keep your god damned hands off of the net. Kissing Murdoch's ass seems to be a habit for you people.

Yea, apparently fascism is OK as long as it involves money.

 

[Uncensored2008]

uh, chris dodd retired at least two years ago.

he's head of MPAA and pushing hard for this

The MPAA, BSA, and RIAA are the only thing that makes the pirates sympathetic to me. Bunch of whiny little bitches.

 

[uscitizen]

Wikipedia blackout to protest SOPA


Duuh!

Since it's passage in worst form would wipe them out....

 

[uscitizen]

The corporate takeover of the net will be much faster than independent TV and Radio's assimilation.

 

[Photonic]

http://static.thepiratebay.org/legal/sopa.txt

Thought everyone should get a chance to read this. It's a release from the pirating community themselves.

 

[Uncensored2008]

US.

Most...

Honest...

Country...

No doubt you think North Korea is the most honest country, Mulllah Photo....

Folks, you can't make shit like this up.

Do you know who Gabe Newell is?

Porky Pig?

Standard Disclaimer: Where the fuck is episode 3? C'mon Valve, you're pulling a DNF.

 

[Uncensored2008]

LOL. So typical that our 'Conservatives' talk about freedom and support the fascism of the corporations seeking control over the net. Keep your god damned hands off of the net. Kissing Murdoch's ass seems to be a habit for you people.

Huh?

What does Rupert Murdoch have to do with this?

You're a one trick pony, trained by MoveOn to hate Fox - now you think SOPA is Fox...