NFL, MLB Accused of Bogus Copyright Claims

P Crewe writes "A complaint filed by the Computer & Communications Industry Association accuses the NFL, MLB, and a number of studios of deceptive trade practices, saying that their far-reaching copyright claims systematically misrepresent the rights of consumers to use copyrighted material. 'According to the complaint, such warnings "materially misrepresent" US law. Fair use is given short shrift, and as a result, consumers are left with the impression that any use that the rights-holders do not expressly approve is illegal. "Consumers have the right to use the content in legal, non-infringing ways," CCIA spokesperson Jake Ward told Ars Technica. "Putting these warnings on broadcasts, videotapes, and DVDs is both misleading and threatening."'"

Comments

Re:The complaint is with FTC

[MightyMartian]

It would if you were Jimmy the Local Neighborhood Thug, but if you're a major corporate interest with lots of dollars and plenty of bureaucrats and politicians willing to suck your figurative genitals for a share of the pie, it ceases to be. Remember, the only thing that matters in this world is how much money you have. The more you have, the less the law applies to you, until finally, when you're a Very Large Corporation, the law is a meaningless abstraction that has little effect other than keeping legal departments employed.