[Gllug] Uh oh, ministers consider "anti file-sharing laws"

[Iain Conochie]

t.clarke wrote:
> On the subject of Copyright infringement,  how about this for a rip-off?
>
> Birth and Death Certificates etc are Crown copyright.
>
> You can take a photocopy for your own records (apparently), but if you need a
> copy for the Bank etc,  it HAS to be an original as you are legally not
> permitted to copy it.
>
> Tim
>   
I think this raises an interesting point in all of this.

You do not *own* your birth certificate, in the same way you do not 
*own* your bank cards credit cards etc.

When you buy a CD of music or a DVD movie, you buying the physical 
medium, and you are recieving a *license* to use the music or movie on 
terms specified by the copyright holder (hence the blurb about public 
broadcasting on movies). At not point do you *own* the music or movie.

Now *legally* I am not allowed to distribute copies of the music / movie 
I bought, as you infringe the terms of the license that allows you to 
listen to the music you do not own.

However, the term "intellectual property" is a misnomer, due to the fact 
that If I give a song / idea / poem to someone I am not being deprived 
of it myself. It can be copied over and over again. However, if I give 
someone a physical object (or representation thereof such as a bank 
note) then I *am* being deprived of that object.

Iain






-- 
Gllug mailing list  -  Gllug at gllug.org.uk
http://lists.gllug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/gllug