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Legal Victory for P2P in France
nietsch writes "The Register is reporting that a french Kazaa user that had been sued by the SCPP (the french equivalent of the RIAA) has been acquitted by the courts in his county. 'The Judges decided that these acts of downloading and uploading qualified as private copying' Ars Technica has more coverage on the subject, or you can read it in english from the organization that lead the defense."
Who knew france would be the country to stick up for digital copy rights?
Someone should have checked judges personal computers to understand merits of this verdict.
SCPP:
Go and tell your master that we have been charged by God with a sacred quest. If he will give us money for the MP3s, he can join us in our quest for the Holy Racketeering Scheme.
FRENCH JUDGE:
Well, I'll ask him, but I don't think he'll be very keen. Uh, MP3s are free you see...
SCPP:
What?
RIAA:
He says MP3s are free!
SCPP:
Are you sure they're free?
FRENCH JUDGE:
Oh, yes. They're very nice-a. (I told him MP3s are free.)
POLICEMEN:
[chuckling]
SCPP:
Well, u-- um, can we come up and have a look at your MP3 collection?
FRENCH JUDGE:
Of course not! You are English types-a!
SCPP:
Well, what are you, then?
FRENCH JUDGE:
I'm French! Why do think I have this outrageous accent?!
RIAA:
What are you doing in England?
FRENCH JUDGE:
Mind your own business!
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
It means private as in non-commercial, not as in kept hidden from the rest of the world.
This is old news.
The act of downloading is considered fair game but the act of uploading without the correct licence is still illegal.
you also have to know that in France there is a "tax on the private copy". When you buy a blank CD or DVD, you pay a tax that goes directly in the SCPP's pocket. The judge recognized that by burning most of the downloaded stuff, this particular person was in fact paying for his stuff and denied his responsability.
BTW, isn't it a last year news ?
On a side note, French parliament is currently examining a law that would legalize a "P2P fee", legalizing 100% of P2P downloadable stuff. Its chances to pass are thin, but there is currently a heated debate (most politician think about the 2007 presidential elections)
The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
"The music industry is very used to getting their way. They have plenty of money to give to politicians when they aren't giving it to radio stations in illegal pay for play schemes. Give them a while and they will bribe the bad news away..."
Because God Forbid the music industry actually gives any of that money to the people that write/play/record/produce/create the music that makes them an industry. I figure the artists should actually see some of the money instead of it being spent on lawsuits and red-tape.
I mean, that's like winning the $100M lottery and only getting $5 out of it because someone decided that they'd use the rest of the money to sue other people to make sure someone doesn't steal my $5.
I guess I just don't see how the RIAA isn't a wholy owned subsidiary of the Mafia.
-=JML=-
What they seem to be looking at is accepting that people are going to use P2P networks anyway, and look at implementing some kind of revenue model to ensure that music publishers don't get so antsy in france that they sue dead people who have never used a computer.
"But," I hear you cry, "what's to stop me using Brand X esoteric open source P2P software?". Well, if you are using and not paying, you are now committing an offence against the state.
Which makes it a damn sight easier to get your arse put in prison.
Cunning.
-- "You never mentioned comets before, Mac. This opens up a whole new area of negotiation." - Gordon Urquart
The title is misleading. Maybe "Legal Victory for a P2P user in France" would be better.
France uses the "civil law" system (as opposed to the "common law" system used in the U.S., the U.K., and the Commonwealth, past and present). It's based on the Roman corpus iuris civilis, and it doesn't have any such thing as "precedent." Each and every case is decided purely on the facts of the case, the law as written, and the judge's... erm... well... judgment.
This doesn't mean P2P is legal in France. It means someone got away with it.
I would have thought, in this specific occurrence, that it is the US who surrendered to big business.
But I'm just French. And not even Republican. What do I know about spinning news?
It would be nice to be sure of anything the way some people are of everything.
FYI, CD-R/DVD+/-R/RWs are taxed in Europe, as insisted by artists. IOW, if you have downloaded MP3s or movies and burned them on CD/DVD - you are clear, since you are already compensated artists thru recordable medium tax. (And every CD/DVD burner is taxed too.)
And to cool off your hot (in legal sense) American heads, I have to remind that European legal system is NOT precedent-based. IOW, one case over here means nothing. Judge decides the case after looking into the circumstances of the case before him, not by searching prehistoric records of how Gutenberg/etc were judged.
What can you tell from the case, is overall mood over here. People in Europe are sick of taxes. And another association asking for another compensation and protection against competition is just what it is - another association asking for another compensation and another protection against competition. And artist associations here are far from being first in the queue of the beggars, looking for gov't help.
What is illegal here putting such CD-R pile for a sale. But I think it's illegal everywhere. As long as you give it away for free - you are Okay.
All hope abandon ye who enter here.
This latest verdict is probably in line with the current French legislation. But since France is a member of EU, they will eventually have to implement the EU Copyright Directive (EUCD). The French parlament are in fact discussing this, the proposed french law is called "Droit d'Auteur et aux Droits Voisins dans la Société de l'Information" (DADVSI), and though opposition is tough it will certainly come to life soon, as all EU directives must in all member states.
Then P2P networks and the use of them, even to share innocent files, will be illegal. This law will also affect Open Source software development, so it might matter more than you think.
You can help the French community by signing a petition here:
http://eucd.info/index.php?English-readers
pwnez
Probably, but private has many meanings. private 4 c) Conducted and supported primarily by individuals or groups not affiliated with governmental agencies or corporations: a private college; a private sanatorium. In that context private P2P is correct even if it is open to everyone.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings