[NetBehaviour] Fwd: Mickey Mouse Bill

[Michael Szpakowski]

*Why defend the indefensible?*

I think a lot of us here lean towards the view that it's copyright tout court that's indefensible.
michael



--- On Sun, 5/18/08, bob catchpole <bobcatchpole at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> From: bob catchpole <bobcatchpole at yahoo.co.uk>
> Subject: Re: [NetBehaviour] Fwd: Mickey Mouse Bill
> To: "NetBehaviour for networked distributed creativity" <netbehaviour at netbehaviour.org>
> Date: Sunday, May 18, 2008, 5:10 PM
> Hi Rob,
> 
> Why defend the indefensible?
> 
> Rob Myers wrote:
> 
> > Automatic possession of copyright *is* in line with
> the rest of the world.
> 
> Yes, but ONLY in the States it doesn't mean anything
> unless the work is registered. What kind of right is that?
> 
> http://photobusinessforum.blogspot.com/2008/05/orphan-works-2008-wolf-in-sheeps.html
> 
> > The Orphan Works bill ensures that everyone still pays
> damages, but that they do so fairly.
> 
> That rubbish Rob, there's no chance of damages if the
> work isn't registered. ONLY in the States!
> 
> > The registry system is optional
> 
> The registry system is PERVERSE. Non-participation allows
> infringers to use your work with impunity. 
> 
> > The registry system is optional and is designed to
> build on services like DACS (I forget the US equivalent) 
> 
> A registry system ONLY exists in the States. DACS, a
> designers and artists association in the UK, is likely
> horrified at the Orphan Works Bill.
> 
> Actually, the American registry system is a form of state
> intervention in the market place that isn't tolerated
> anywhere else.
> 
> Bob.
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Rob Myers <rob at robmyers.org>
> To: NetBehaviour for networked distributed creativity
> <netbehaviour at netbehaviour.org>
> Sent: Sunday, 18 May, 2008 3:02:50 PM
> Subject: Re: [NetBehaviour] Fwd: Mickey Mouse Bill
> 
> bob catchpole wrote:
> > Rob Myers wrote:
> > 
> >  > Registration only affects damages where
> copyright is infringed.
> > 
> > So if someone uses your work without permission and
> you haven't 
> > registered you're not entitled to damages. ONLY in
> the States. 
> 
> It is possible to register afterwards and claim damages on
> the basis of 
> that but I believe this has issues.
> 
> > Why not 
> > come into line with the rest of the world? 
> 
> Automatic possession of copyright *is* in line with the
> rest of the world.
> 
> > Just get rid of the need (and 
> > expense, $30 a time) to register.
> 
> You can register copyrights in the UK. Establishing the
> date of 
> publication can be useful.
> 
> > Currently many working photographers in America are
> compelled to do the 
> > same as Seth Resnick: "Every image that I shoot
> is registered before it 
> > ever leaves my office."  To us outside the States
> this seems ludicrous -
> > time-consuming, expensive and a perversion of an
> automatic universal 
> > right. And in the Land of the Free!...
> > 
> >  > The purpose behind the “visual registries”
> provisions is to help 
> > artists keep
> >  > ownership information associated with their
> works...
> > 
> > To help artists? Artists are automatically owners of
> their work. Nowhere 
> > else do they need to register the fact.
> 
> Artists receive copyright on completion of the work in the
> US the same 
> as everywhere else, and this copyright allows them to
> prevent other 
> people from copying their work (and thereby profiting from
> it) the same 
> as everywhere else.
> 
> Orphan works *are* a genuine problem for society that need
> tackling, 
> even if the current bill is not perfect. The bill can be
> improved, and 
> Public Knowledge have suggestions for this.
> 
> The bill is not pro-corporate. Currently only big
> corporations can 
> afford the risk of publishing old work with unknown
> copyright status. 
> Damages could wipe out an individual or a smaller
> organization. The 
> Orphan Works bill ensures that everyone still pays damages,
> but that 
> they do so fairly.
> 
> The registry system is optional and is designed to build on
> services 
> like DACS (I forget the US equivalent) that enforce
> copyrights and fees 
> under the current system. Most professional artists and
> designers 
> already belong to such a scheme.
> 
> - Rob.
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