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Monsoon Multimedia GPL lawsuit settledMonsoon Multimedia GPL lawsuit settledPosted Nov 2, 2007 10:47 UTC (Fri) by ekj (subscriber, #1524)In reply to: Monsoon Multimedia GPL lawsuit settled by etienne_lorrain@yahoo.fr Parent article: Monsoon Multimedia GPL lawsuit settled
Copyright deals primarily with the right to make /copies/ of a work. That's why it's named the way it is. Sort of a -duh-. It also includes certain closely related rights, such as the right to publicly perform a work. But yes, you are perfectly allowed to -have- a copyrighted book in your bookshelf, or a copyrighted program in your computer, with no "license" whatsoever. It's only when you want to start making *copies* of that book, or that program, that you need the permission of the copyright-holder. Backups depend on your jurisdiction. In saner jurisdictions you're allowed to make limited copies for your own use of copyrighted works, but this varies with jurisdiction.
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Monsoon Multimedia GPL lawsuit settled Posted Nov 2, 2007 13:02 UTC (Fri) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link] Of course in some jurisdictions you're not allowed to do anything useful with that copy on disk, as that involves making a copy in memory. The degree of stupidity of this approach is obvious to anyone with the least modicum of clue, but it hasn't been fixed... one advantage of the iPod and friends is that this sort of thing may finally *get* fixed, because everyone and his dog including lots of legislators are now doing format-shifting and so on and expect it to be legal. If format-shifting is legal, `copying into memory' certainly is.
Monsoon Multimedia GPL lawsuit settled Posted Nov 2, 2007 13:53 UTC (Fri) by ekj (subscriber, #1524) [Link] Yeah, like I said, it depends. In Norway it's also kinda insane, but not that insane. Here you're /generally/ allowed to make a "limited number" of copies of a copyrigthed work for personal use. Personal use includes close friends and family, so here it's actually explicitly allowed to say make a compilation-cd with 15 of your kid-sisters favourite songs for her. There's however an exception for programs. You're *not* allowed to make a copy of the newest computer-game and give it to a close friend of yours. You are however allowed to make any copies needed for normal usage of the program. Courts have ruled that this includes the rigth to take backups, backing up a computer is "normal usage" of the computer. Industry is figthing tooth-and-nail to kill the limited copies thing, or if that doesn't work (which seems currently likely) to make people *BELIEVE* that any copying is illegal.
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