DMCA, Auf Deutsch

Kavau writes "The lower house of the German parliament just passed an amendment to the copyright law (sorry, article in German only). The highly controversial law will severely limit consumers' rights to make private copies of copyrighted media, and imposes special taxes on virtually any device that can potentially be used for copyright circumvention (among these devices are printers, CD burners, scanners and cell phones). Also, circumvention of copyright protection mechanisms will become illegal, as it already is in the United States." There's a short blurb (in English) at the Register Update: 04/13 19:20 GMT by T : [Sorry, actually it's The Inquirer]; note that this has passed the lower house of the German parliament, but has not yet been voted on by the upper.

Kavau continues: "The law does not directly prohibit the fabrication of private copies, but it offers the copyright holder the right to do just that. And we probably can expect the majority of copyright holders to make use of this right. The law simply takes away what US citizens would call the consumer's right to fair use. An exception is made for schools and research institutes, which may provide excerpts of copyrighted media to a group students or researchers.

One of the most important maxims of European law is "in dubio pro reo" (if in doubt, rule in favor of the defendant). While this principle applies to the judicature, and we are talking about the legislature here, the new law nevertheless seems to have perverted this principle: it treats every computer owner as a potential copyright pirate. Thank you, government, for the trust you are showing in your citizens! What's next? Special taxes on pen and paper? Note also that we are likely going to see similar laws in other European countries soon. The law follows guidelines imposed by the European Union in 2001."

Comments

Great

[rf0]

Cool another case of the wrold gone mad. So once again I can't copy something I bought for my own private use. What about making a backup of a CD? So basically this is covering everything that can make copies of sounds and then play them back. Prehaps its time we outlawed parrots :)

Rus

Re:Great

[Blue Stone]

"Prehaps its time we outlawed parrots :)"

Perhaps it's time we outlawed corporations funding and fixing laws for their own benefit. :)

They are irrelavent anyhow....

[argoff]

IMHO, the real battle is going on in the US. If we win here, than the other countries will fall like dominos - and ease copy restrictions across the board, if we loose here then there is no way in hell any other country is going to have the strength to hold out.

Therefore, if you are from outside the USA - I recommend paying attention to what goes on here 1st. Copyrights are very quickly becoming unenforceable without draconian measures, with trillions at stake, for each side, I wouldn't be supprised if all hell's about to break loose.

Interesting developments...

[Anonymous Coward]

Under ancient (and not-so-ancient) Arabic law, you steal, and you get your hand chopped off.

Under new American/EU policy, you get your hand chopped off so that you can't steal.

And *who* has the brutal regime here?

Re:Schade

[__past__]

Die Frage ist doch eher, ob die Möglichkeit des Kopierens ein finanzieller Verlust für die Content-Produzenten ist. Ich muss ja z.B. auch Mehrabgaben für Drucker bezahlen, wenn ich nur meine eigenen Urlaubsfotos drucke, genau wie ich jetzt schon GEZ-Gebühren bezahlen muss, weil ich einen Fernseher habe, auch wenn ich keine Antenne habe und nur Videos gucke.