Overly-broad copyright law has made USA a "nation of infringers"
- From: J Flenner <varney@[redacted]>
- Subject: Overly-broad copyright law has made USA a "nation of infringers"
- Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 10:08:42 -0500
[]
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071119-overly-broad-copyright-law-has-made-us-a-nation-of-infringers.html
November 19, 2007 | ars technica
Overly-broad copyright law has made USA a "nation of infringers"
By Nate Anderson
How many copyright violations does an average user commit in a single
day? John Tehranian, a law professor at the University of Utah,
calculates in a new paper that he rings up $12.45 million in liability
<http://www.turnergreen.com/publications/Tehranian_Infringement_Nation.pdf>
over the course of an average day. The gap between what the law allows
and what social norms permit is so great now that "we are, technically
speaking, a nation of infringers."
Tehranian's paper points out just how pervasive copyright has become in
our lives. Simply checking one's e-mail and including the full text in
response could be a violation of copyright. So could a tattoo on
Tehranian's shoulder of Captain Caveman -- and potential damages escalate
when Tehranian takes off his shirt at the university pool and engages in
public performance of an unauthorized copyrighted work.
.
.
.
What better way could there be to create a nation of constant
lawbreakers than to instill in that nation a contempt for its own laws?
And what better way to instill contempt than to hand out rights so broad
that most Americans simply find them absurd?
DISCUSS
<http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=50009562&f=174096756&m=474008278831&r=474008278831>