Court Rules Fan Subtitles On TV and Movies Are Illegal (thenextweb.com)
A court has just ruled that making fan subtitles or translations is not protected by the law. From a report: A Dutch group called the Free Subtitles Foundation took anti-piracy group BREIN to court over "fansubbing." BREIN has previously been active in taking fan subtitles and translations offline, and the Foundation was hoping a Dutch court would come down on the side of fair use. The court didn't quite see it that way. It ruled that making subtitles without permission from the property owners amounted to copyright infringement. BREIN wasn't unsympathetic, but said it couldn't allow fansubbers to continue doing what they're doing.
That sucks, but, it's pretty clearly a derivative work...
Is this because the original content (video) is being published along with the translations? What about other translation or transcribing tools (like for the hearing impaired)?
I don't know any better example of "derivative work" than translations
According to the United States Constitution, the purpose of copyright is...
What is the pupose of copyright in the Netherlands, and how does this ruling support that purpose?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSYk8ofhYFY
because such a stupid ruling will never be enforceable. Meanwhile anyone who is a liberal and a globalists disagrees with anyone attempting to stonewall the freedom of communication which sees different people coming together through mediums such as entertainment, where political and social aspects implicated by fan-subbing vastly outweigh BREIN's opinions and the opinions of the copyright cartel behind them using this ruling as a smokescreen precedent to censor and attack freedom of expression down the line.
If they are selling the movie without having paid for it, that's definitely copyright violation. But the fan subtitling people do not have to do that.
If you do it yourself and do not sell anything, that's not copyright theft.
If you buy the right to make and sell copies of the movie, then you are legally selling the item.
If someone else pays you for your subtitles but you only sell them a timed set of subtitles without the movie, then you are not breaking the law. If they already have (or get) the right to display/sell the movie and they combine your time subtitles, then no one is breaking the law.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
Copyright should not preclude fansubs or fandubs until there is content in that language for sale/rent to the public. If you won't serve a market, there is no reasonable expectation for financial benefit and thus fair use precludes you from shutting out fansubs and the like.
If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
If the rights-holder is unwilling to provide copies (or in this case translations) then they should not be able to prevent others from doing so. This is currently a huge problem with out-of-print books as well.
So, if I see a fire break out and I put it out on my own, am I infringing on the work of the firefighter that either were not called or had not yet arrived?
Sure, you are producing a textual version of the movie, but it would be utilized in conjunction with the movie/show. It's not like someone is going to read subtitles on a movie they have not seen and feel, "Gosh! Now I don't have to see the movie at all! I can't believe Bruce Willis was actually a ghost. Didn't see that one coming.... (Sorry for the spoiler, you should have watched it by now.)
So are they actually upset because it is now becoming public how cheap and unsupportive the studio executives are to the hearing impaired?
Me not selling something today doesn't mean I won't want to sell it tomorrow. The issue with out of print books should be addressed by having reasonable copyright term limits.
"Old man yells at systemd"
Most fansubs I have seen are rips and re-encodes of the video with the subtitles baked into the video. That is clearly a derived work and subject to copyright law. If they just distributed an .srt file then they might not have the problem. There's technical issues with rendering the .srt from within an Amazon or Netflix player, or on your streaming media box, but that could be dealt with.
No, copyright is for promot[ing] the progress of science and the useful arts. Enabling the creator to profit is only a means to that end.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Would it be against the law in the Netherlands to hire a translator to watch a movie with you and tell you what the people are saying? If I'm deaf, is it illegal for a friend to tell me what the people on screen are saying? What about one of the many smart phone apps that can listen to something and translate it for you? Are you violating copyright in the Netherlands if you use one of those apps while watching a movie? What about Google Translate? If I type in a line from a movie because I want to know how to say it in another language, is Google now facilitating copyright infringement?
Translation of books have long been covered under copyright as derivative works. Many authors knowing that their work was to be translated might have opinions on who and how the work is translated as the translator could very easily change the intended meaning of the work. Subtitles are no different here.
This is one of the cases where spread of culture and a discussion on the ownership of language and implications behind this discussion, are more important than some self-righteous copyright prick trying to play "Masters of the Universe" because he treats copyright like ISIS treats the Quran.
This is now something bigger than the "creators" and their wallets, and i find it sad that the Dutch judicial system was too narrow-minded (or bribed) to properly
discuss this.
Fair point. You can have until next Thursday.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Surely if subtitles are infringing, then lyrics sites must really be infringing (and stop calling me Shirley).
I believe the word is 'compulsory licensing'. If you want copyright/patent protection, you should be required to license it for a reasonable price. But, since the public doesn't give a damn, it ain't gonna happen.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Maybe 100 years ago that was true. I suggest asking your friends at Disney if that is still true.
wasn't unsympathetic = sympathetic?
Post is not complete without a link to a downfall spoof! https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Back in the pre-digital days, I was part of a fansubbing group called Lupin Gang Anime. These days, I capture laserdiscs of the many titles that have never been reissued on DVD or better (https://www.otakubell.com/)
I will continue to capture these endangered titles and put them on the internet. I will continue to do my best to preserve these titles from being lost. The only way I will stop is if I am locked up. Given the choice between following the law and doing what's right, I'll chose the later.
Came to post this link. Left satisfied.
Have gnu, will travel.
Or is it only because they're not mocking?
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
.... from this yet, we are just going to make it illegal until we do. How UTTERLY pathetic :-D
this article on slashdot deemed to be illegal because rewording and summarizing the original article constitutes a derivative work of the original article
Youtube video (with subtitles) to follow shortly.
Have gnu, will travel.
And that's just it—the expectation from the general public has been reduced to almost zero. It used to be fansubs thrived due to taking 2+ years (if ever) for series to come out officially. Now you have people whining if there is even a one week delay in the English, as many series receive a simultaneous digital release alongside the Japanese broadcast.
Viz has a number of manga that are simultaneously published in English and Japanese on the street date of the magazine. Yet there is still a large nascent market of scanlations that release days ahead. Excuses I've seen from people amount to "if they have the content finished and sit on it, then its their fault" despite the fact we're talking only a handful of days so that a coordinated release can be made. (Takes a few days for print copies to make it to all corners of the country)
Although to be honest, I believe most of the stuff being released ahead of street date is because of a certain group of individuals called Mangastream that has turned it into a bootlegging business. They do it for the ad revenue on the website, which the Alexa-rank is higher than websites for the actual publishers. Then you have counter-groups that attempt to beat them to release to cost them ad hits. I'm honestly surprised the industry hasn't gone after Mangastream despite them poaching pretty much the entire Top20 best-selling manga series in Japan and receiving millions of hits monthly.
Well, this is a case when calling this "selling" is misleading. "selling" implies transferring some good to buyer, or at least doing something for him that requires any effort.
Copyright infringement would occur if the subtitled movie was redistributed. If you distributed the subtitles only, WITHOUT the accompanying movie, you could argue fair use. No guarantee of sucess though.
The ruling is a setback for accessibility to the deaf of movies and TV programs.
Same as prohibiting, without rightowners' permission, auditory transcription of books for the benefit of the blind.
The Dutch are fucking morons. Fuck the Dutch, and fuck BREIN.
While I'm a bit too much of a goodie two shoes to do that myself, I can certainly respect breaking the law in the pursuit of preservation of content. Given how much source code is being lost every day because employees aren't doing the same at companies they worked for, in order to ensure the preservation in some of their cases of their and their fellow employee's careers worth of work, I can respect the chops it takes to do so (especially if you do it for free so there is no tainting of it being for-profit infringement.)
I can only hope in the future others will get to live in more enlightened times where information is shared and preserved freely so that others might have the opportunity to delve into the masses of information we have produced and derive enjoyment from whatever of it piques their interests/provides new thoughts and/or experiences.
My bet is that in most cases Fansubs create a fanbase and increased sales.
The experienced sub groups are often better than the professional ones too.
The courts say your wants and needs don't matter.... Don't like it tough, it's a pro business government, so go enjoy your shows without subs.
Muddy the water.
Create Style subs that tell a completely different story than the actual film. Derivative work.:) Probably some great potentials for comedy there.
Anyone recall an old movie J-Men forever that was spliced together old clips from serials like the black and white serials of Captain America, Buck Rogers and Captain Marvel? I'd totally watch more stuff like that
I guess no dutch movies allowed in the US
Are they saying that say ... if a group wanted to provide subtitles of Star Wars into ... Apache (or whatever), that would be illegal?
Just as long as they don't take my angry Hitler away.
Have you ever fallen asleep at the keybhanusdiog?
So, the court is saying in future litigations. I can't quote an author or book, either? Man, it was the best of times and [it is] the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it [it is] the age of foolishness...
I would give you a point, but I have been a bad boy. :-(
Under the ADA, broadcasters (of all sorts) have to provide a percentage of subtitled works. This is giving deaf and hearing impaired people access to all kinds of visual media. If effect, it gives the handicapped access to previously unaccessible media and the Media access to the handicapped. This handicapped group is, in the USA, a sizable market. Amazon Prime Video made a considerable effort to provide subtitles on the majority of their considerable library. I watched their progress and it was very quick. Netflix, AcornTV and others do/have done the same. The is a case of the USA being much more enlightened and advanced than Europe. The European Community should enter this century with a more enlightened view of the handicapped and commend those who are helping instead of punishing them.
How about we just sue the producers for releasing content without subtitles - which discriminated against the hard of hearing?!
Yea. I know. This is a bit of a stretch, yet so is being a prick about a free feature. The producer should get the master, though!
Yet, we all know where this is going. It's all about the $$$$!
Self-importance and self-indulgence is the root of ALL evil.
I wonder what Hitler is going to say when he finds out.
Isn't MST3k a form of subtitle? Certainly sounds like dubbing.
As a condition of this win, content producers should be required to include subs and described video in all languages.