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Norway Considers New Copyright Laws

Posted by Zonk on from the i-want-my-mp3s dept.

bizpile writes "The Norwegian government is considering a change to copyright laws that would make it illegal to rip a CD to MP3s when copy protection is in place on the CD. However, you would still be allowed to copy from one CD to another regardless of copy protection. Gisle Hannemyr, of the University of Oslo's Department of Informatics, responded by saying "We are going to be a nation of lawbreakers if this law is passed in its current form." The new proposal would allow fines and a maximum penalty of three years in prison for violating copyrights and engaging in computer piracy."

6 of 294 comments (clear)

  1. CD to CD to MP3 by donnyspi · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Sooo... copy from protected to unprotected CD... then rip to MP3 :-)

  2. Penalties by DarkEdgeX · · Score: 4, Interesting
    The new proposal would allow fines and a maximum penalty of three years in prison for violating copyrights and engaging in computer piracy.

    Bringing up the subject of a recent Slashdot article-- what's the penalty for actual theft in the traditional "go in, take it and walk out without paying for it" sense in Norway? Would the penalty for copyright infringement be worse or better by comparison?

    --
    All I know about Bush is I had a good job when Clinton was president.
  3. What's the penalty for falsely claiming ? by Quiberon · · Score: 3, Interesting
    So, I claim that you copied my CD to an MP3, and the Norwegian government puts you in jail.

    Why shouldn't you play the music on your jogging belt ? That's fair use !

    What if it turns out I had given you permission, but I just wanted you to be put in jail ?

    How about OGG ?

    How about uncompressed stuff ? USB sticks are getting bigger by the day.

    How about an encrypted MP3 ?

    What if it turns out I don't hold the copyright. Are you still in jail ?

  4. A good piece of investigative journalism... by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 4, Interesting
    A good piece of investigative journalism would be to go and fathom out what kind of process would lead a legislature to introduce such an ill-informed piece of law...

    And what happens when they start to crack down on people? They gonna jail everyone? Will the police arrest people with earphones and check if they have a MP3 player?

  5. Re:What is the point? by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Interesting
    It may stop a few people from ripping music, but most will do it anyway. It won't stop piracy.


    Well, IANN (not Norwegian) but will it even stop ripping?

    If I rip files and I never participate in file sharing, how the hell would they know? I rip my music for use on my own machines or on my MP3 player.

    Would they outlaw the simple posession of MP3s under the argument that someone must have ripped it so you're guilty? What about albums that have been re-released so the version you had didn't have DRM, but the newer version does? Will that become a legal gray area for this?

    It just seems really odd to outlaw the act of ripping unless they can substantially prove that it was for an infringing use.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  6. Re:What if you have an iPod in Norway? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting


    You drive the car at 200mph and you're breaking the law?

    legal on your own property.


    You sharpen the sword to the point where its a concealed weapon and you're breaking the law?

    legal on you own property. except for peasants in a fuedal society.


    You use said VCR and videotape to record a movie you rented from Blockbuster and you're breaking the law?

    SHOULD be legal on your own property. Thats our point.
    Even granting you ridiculous leeway in the use of analogies, your arguments suck.