Except that "running a program" isn't copyright infringment. [LWN.net]

Except that "running a program" isn't copyright infringment.

Posted May 11, 2008 17:48 UTC (Sun) by giraffedata (subscriber, #1954)
In reply to: Except that "running a program" isn't copyright infringment. by dvdeug
Parent article: Blizzard tests the reach of copyright law

So if anyone might do it, you might be doing it without knowing it?

No, if anyone might do it, you might be doing it knowingly. So one might conclude based on other evidence that you are in fact doing it.

That's fraudulent;

Fraud is intentionally misleading someone for one's own gain. So far, none of the scenarios I've talked about involve someone tricking the WoW customer. They involve misundertandings and differences of opinion.

the whole essence of a valid contract is that both sides have a meeting of minds on what the contract means.

That's the point I've been trying to make. If the WoW customer reasonably believed he was buying a copy and the shopkeeper reasonably believed he was selling only a copyright license, there is no contract. In that case, the customer has to give back the CD.

So the only question was whether a shopkeeper could reasonably believe the customer wanted a copyright license without a copy. The fact that it's a reasonable thing to buy and others buy similar things argues in favor of that.

Theaters don't buy films this way [reading the full contract after the initial transaction].

Agreed; that isn't the "this" I meant. I meant a theater owner buys a copyright license, and takes possession of a copy, but does not buy the copy.

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