YouTube's fate rests on decade-old copyright law

TalkBack 31 of 43:

Next »

« Previous

• Thread View
• Flat View

DMCA was never a good law

The DMCA was a storebought law passed out of concern for foreign theft of US intellectual property. The law has seen minimal use overseas because of accusations of 'extraterritorialty' against the US. As the Pogo cartoon stated,its main use has been against US citizens so that in the best Vietnam tradition where we have met the enemy and it is us.

The problem with DMCA is that it goes against five thousand years of artisitic tradition. If it existed 5000 years ago we would still be painting on cave walls, and even these would be limited. Rock and Roll wouldn't exist because it is derivative of black R&B amd Blues. Shakespeare wouldn't exist because he was derivative of earlier authors. Newton wouldn't exist because he used the work of prior authors in "standing on the shoulders of giants".

The DMCA needs to be rewritten so that it is consistent with artistic advance using the newest capabilities. That is what is happening overseas. Combining, or mashing ones own hooks with those of admired artists is not piracy, it is artistic tradition. Piracy, the selling of of the work of others or claiming others work as your own is is theft. Using the ideas of others or selected portions of a work for non commercial use isn't.

Furthermore, the Sonny Bono copyright extension law was crafted by the Media Coporations. It in effect makes copyright eternal. This is contrary to history and to artistic tradition and forms the second hand punch that the current legal onslaught is based on.

Both laws need to be reviewed in a mature way so that US law helps and doesn't hurt the country and its people. The Media companies need to develop new forms of added value since the internet has reduced the need (disintermediated)) for middle men to control the market. Both consumers and artists, whose name the Media companies are acting in, don't like the current system and are exploited by it.

Failure to do this needed revision will not control artistic creation or markets. It is like trying to hold back the waves. There are too many options, especially in non-US locations. What's more, foreign governments are extracting heavy prices in terms of money, diplomatic and military support to enforce our IP laws. Think Columbia and narcotics and you will get the idea.

You Tube needs to take down those items that substantially reproduce the works of others. Turning this into a multi billion dollar feast for lawyers and parisitic middle men is not in the interests of artists (who will see little of it), the government, or the people. Its time to change unbalanced laws made in haste and do the job right.

Posted by: jdubow@...   Posted on: 03/14/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• The Impact of Virtualization Software on Operating Environments VMware Today's use of virtualization technology allows IT professionals to ... Download Now
• Using Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS to Achieve Highly Available, Load-Balanced Clusters Dell The Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS operating system integrates Cluster ... Download Now
• Key Strategies for Federal Agencies - Safe and Cost Effective Migration for Legacy Hardware GovConnection The federal government has mandated that federal agencies reduce energy ... Download Now