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To: KevinB
I totally agree. Downloading copyrighted materials is illegal by any standard. And if I was an artist, I would want to be compensated for my efforts.

My point is this -- file-swapping is unstoppable, and any laws enacted to stop it, whether currently existing or not, are unenforceable. Thus, the sales of CDs will continue to decline. If the RIAA wants to service its constituents effectively, it must look for alternative means of extracting income other than CD sales.
128 posted on 04/29/2003 3:26:30 PM PDT by Mister Magoo
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To: Mister Magoo
I totally agree. Downloading copyrighted materials is illegal by any standard. And if I was an artist, I would want to be compensated for my efforts.

Okay. It sounds like we're on the same page after all. I guess as a lawyer I am trained to think that when someone claims a law is "unenforceable" they are claiming there is no legal basis for enforcement. Clearly, the copyright holders have the legal right to enforce their copyrights, but, as you say, and I agree with you, in the case of music downloads the copyright laws are unenforceable as a practical matter.

There is a revolution going on and it's about time; however, people seem to be losing track of who the enemy is. The enemy is the record company shoving an outdated business model down our throats, not the copyright law or the concept of copyright protection. The legally and morally correct way to fight this battle is to refuse to buy the record company's products, rather than stealing them.

By the way, the Lanham Act deals with trademarks (e.g. "Coca Cola") not copyright. At the risk of creating an overly long post, I'm including the relevant language from the US Copyright Act, which clearly applies to file downloading. No separate statute relating to file downloading is necessary in light of this provision.

Sec. 106. - Exclusive rights in copyrighted works

Subject to sections 107 through 121, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:

(1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;

(2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;

(3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;

(4) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly;

(5) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to display the copyrighted work publicly; and

(6) in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission

162 posted on 04/29/2003 3:59:30 PM PDT by KevinB
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