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European Court Finds Copyright Doesn't Automatically Trump Freedom Of Expression
First time accepted submitter admiral snackbar writes "The European Court of Human Rights has declared that the copyright monopoly stands in direct conflict with fundamental Human Rights, as defined in the European Union and elsewhere. 'For the first time in a judgment on the merits, the European Court of Human Rights has clarified that a conviction based on copyright law for illegally reproducing or publicly communicating copyright protected material can be regarded as an interference with the right of freedom of expression and information under Article 10 of the European Convention [on Human Rights]. Such interference must be in accordance with the three conditions enshrined in the second paragraph of Article 10 of the Convention. This means that a conviction or any other judicial decision based on copyright law, restricting a person's or an organization's freedom of expression, must be pertinently motivated as being necessary in a democratic society, apart from being prescribed by law and pursuing a legitimate aim.'"
I, for one, welcome our new european overlords!
Home of the french. Unfortunately.
What?
An organisation has freedom of expression?
That's not good. It's members maybe, but an abstract legal entity?
SJW n. One who posts facts.
While the EU has had a lot of criticism (some of it justified) for it's costs, it's impenetrable bureaucracy, and it's tendency to focus on the minutia rather than bigger problems, I think that it would be impossible to practically enact vital laws and opinions such as this on an international scale without it. Big government may be out of fashion on the other side of the pond, but it certainly has it's merits over here (where our governmental needs are different) and this kind of check against the increasing pressure and influence of fanatical commercial interests on the interpretation and drafting of legislation is exactly what we need right now to restore a little sanity to the situation.
There's something you owe the french.
Your freedom.
And most of your constitution.
TFA is crap, but links to a post with more details.
the applicants were Robert Ashby Donald, Marcio Madeira Moraes and Olivier Claisse, respectively an American, a Brazilian and a French national living in New-York, Paris and Le Perreux-sur-Marne. All three are fashion photographers. The case concerned their conviction in France for copyright infringement following the publication of pictures on the Internet site Viewfinder of a fashion company run by Mr. Donald and Mr. Moraes. The photos were taken by Mr. Claisse at fashion shows in Paris in 2003 and published without the permission of the fashion houses. The three fashion photographers were ordered by the Court of Appeal of Paris to pay fines between 3.000 and 8.000 euro and an award of damages to the French design clothing Federation and five fashion houses, all together amounting to 255.000 euro
Notably,
In the case of Ashby Donald and others v. France the European Court of Human Rights did not need to undertake itself such a balancing exercise, as it found that the French judicial authorities have done this exercise in a proper way. As the Court stated, it saw no reason to disagree with the findings by the French courts
I.e., the ruling didn't do squat to help the defendants in this case.
Might go some way towards explaining the massive right-wing hate for the European Court of Human Rights and petty tabloid hate of 'European human rights' in general.
Human rights and (rightwing politics, elite interests) of all colours generally don't get along.
(mutatis mutandis of course).
It's long been common practice that copyright couldn't be enforced if it was violated in order to provide information in the interest of the public.
I don't see this ruling going any further...
That's interesting. Could you provide links to more information? I think that's the way it should be.
Don't like the 2nd Amendment? Ignore it, or make up self-serving crap about a simple explanatory clause somehow being related to the fundamental right being guaranteed!
Don't like due process? Ignore it. Use them drones to whack US citizens!
A good example of the Human Rights Court anarchist and far, far left trend. You do not have to be a right-winger to see the issues here. If they can undermine the 'capitalistic' underpinnings of copyrights, then much of our information/technology/innovation sharing and growth will grind to a halt. We will innovate like the Russians and Chinese do - not.
These 2.3 terrabytes of bit torrent downloads are not piracy.
They are performance art.
Some express themselves through defecating paint on canvas, or inserting nostalgic objects into their vaginas, or even collecting garbage in a room and calling it art.
My art is poetry formed of the sequence of downloads I am undertaking.
Now please stop troubling me with your talk about "piracy" and "illegality" because it's simply not true.
Also because I'm in the EU, can I get welfare benefits for heavy metal addiction?
That's what I'm downloading. Help me!
Futurist Traditionalism
What have the politicians been up to this time?
Their corporate handlers are going to be *so* cross.
It just goes to show: You can never really rely on them being housebroken.
as long as it's
2.3 terrabytes
of whatever; as soon as we're talking terrorbytes, thing might go ugly...
Holy crap, I'm feeling like my wildest dreams have come true! Finally acknowledging, that copyright must be in balance with society and is no absolute right, whereas freedom of expression is an absolute right.
I DO in general despise the EU (they do regulate a lot of our daily lives, which is kind of strange for all those little things) but the high courts seem to have a deep insight into humanity and society as of late.
The ECHR has nothing to do with the EU. The ECHR was established as part of the Council of Europe. With 47 member states (including, for example, Russia) the Council is significantly bigger than Europe.
This is important for a few reasons:
- This decision, while not necessarily binding in domestic law for many countries, offers relatively strong guidance as to how domestic law should treat these cases
- Discussions about the EU are irrelevant here
- Unlike EU law, ECHR decisions do not automatically become domestic law in many cases/countries.
Need a Graphic design?
Just for 5$
fiverr.com/techmore
....time to cut the EU off from the rest of the world. Let them fall back into their own cesspool.
Stealing money from big companies to bolster their crappy economies....then saying that people who share stuff is "freedom of expression" - how retarded....
This ruling is generally in accordance with the US constitution. People have rights inherently; they are not granted. governments do not. They have powers over those rights, granted by he people for specific purposes, carefully designed, and revocable.
One such was the creation of copyright for the purpose of protecting the economic interest of authors, to promote same. Go read the lines yourself.
Now if this European decision is treating copyright as some power aggrandizement or usurpation, that is an incorrect view. There is no unconstitutionality of properly-formed government-granted (granted to government, by the people) powers.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
"Studies show money follows positions a lot more than the other way around."
This shows that the old boys network ensures only "the right people" get power.
It used to be the aristocracy, but now it is the plutocracy.
One reason why there are so many buried there is the Merkin Mindset. the US commanders "didn't need" help from the Royal Navy and so requested they not support the landing.
Not being heavily shelled meant that the german forces could reconfigure themselves to cover the landings where they were going to get a beachhead.
And, as the other poster points out, there are a lot of other soldiers under those dunes.
Not to mention that (proportionate to the number of people) there are a lot of french soldiers buried on US soil freeing YOU from British Rule.
But do you hear the french cry off "Fat american cheeseypoof-eating idiots"? No.
Why?
Because, despite not being British, they're more adult than many of the noisier Merkins.
They also say it is beef fit for human consumption. they say it is not from sick animals and not rotten.
But if it isn't beef, how do we know it's fit for human consumption? After all, we've only their word for it. And they've lied about it being beef already...
I wake up every morning
hold my hands and pray for rain
I've got a head full of ideas
driving me insane
It's a shame the way she makes me scrub the floor
well, I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Agree with anything the self-important 'ECHR' says, and it's like agreeing to burn witches. Well, in ECHR terms, soaking their feet gently in nice warm water and giving them a pension-for-life as an 'excluded community'. Don't join the nonsense train, use the Comfy Cushions.
I think this is the core of the issue.
On one hand, sharing information is a great thing.
On the other hand, that information will not get developed if it doesn't pay off handsomely.
My concern is making sure we can continue to fund quality books, movies, etc. We can find people to do it for free, but people who get paid to do it can do it full time and may do a better job.
Futurist Traditionalism
Why be unfriendly?
In fact, I can find nothing that says fair use applies to issues "in the interest of the public", as the grandparent comment says. It seems unlikely that the result of a court case now would be like that of the case concerning the Pentagon Papers: "Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government."
Whistleblower laws are independent of fair use laws.
Cool word, schmorgluck! Had to look it up: ... "the lowest degree of desire or volition, with no effort to act"
.
velleity : the lowest degree of volition, a slight wish or tendency, inclination
.
There is definitely a teenager in my house with a lot of velleity!
Yes, but will we get the same quality of work?
Ernest Hemingway was able to devote his life to his writing because it not only paid the bills, but paid comparable to work as an attorney or doctor.
If writing pays nothing, he'll take those other jobs instead, and not have the time to write the masterpieces he would do otherwise.
Futurist Traditionalism
Germany. The one European country that exports more than the US... Nevermind the 27/49 other countries.
The EU is actually the largest economy in the world - larger than the US.
Who's economy is crappy and nearly bankrupt? The US!