I love lay people spouting so called constitutional law. Have you ever read the whole Constitution, or any Constitutional caselaw? The 5th amendment only protects you from being a witness against yourself, it doesn't protect you from having to do anything that might possibly lead to you giving up information that can be used against you.
Wow, a person that actually cites his/her references without just regurgitating what they have read on somebody's web site or blog about copyright. Too bad they aren't bluebook cites (Just kidding). I just get a little frustrated with all these people who think they are giving useful information but are just confusing everybody. A little ironic how many slashdotters (but not all) make fun of lawyers and the legal system, yet try to pretend they know what they are talking about.
Just a word of advice for all those armchair copyright lawyers: the copyright law is much more interesting and complex than the Copyright Code would lead you to believe. It is very vague and has many reasonable yet contradictory interpretations. By all means, if it something that interests you then seek out information about it. While the Internet is a great resource for many things, the law is not necessarily one of those. Reputable Internet sources of things like interpretations of statutes and caselaw are few and far between. Print sources are probably the best way to learn about it. Hopefully there is a law library near you that you can visit to learn about these things. If you happen to stumble upon one that has a copy of Nimmer on Copyright (the most cited secondary authority on copyright) then that is a great resource. There can't be enough said about good ole booklearnin'.
You are correct. Putting pen to paper is almost certainly "fixation in a tangible medium of expression." 17 USC 102, but you also must make sure you have copyrightable subject matter in order to enjoy the protection of copyright. The code doesn't say what copyrightable subject matter is, so you would have to go to case law to figure that out (or hire an attorney). Some cases you can look at are Burrow-Giles Lithograpic v. Sarony (111 U.S. 53), Bleistein v. Donaldson (188 U.S. 239), Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel (36 F. Supp 2d 191), Gracen v. Bradford Exchange (698 F.2d 300), Feist v. Rural Telephone (499 U.S. 340), CDN v. Kapes (197 F.3d 1256), Nash v. CBS (899 F.2d 1537), Baker v. Selden (101 U.S. 99), Nichols v. Universal (45 F.2d 119), Kregos v. Associated Press (937 F.2d 700), Apple Computer v. Franklin Computer (714 F.2d 1240), Lotus Development v. Borland (49 F.2d 807), Mazer v. Stein (347 U.S. 201), Kieselstein-Cord v. Accessories by Pearl (632 F.2d 989), Carol Barnhardt v. Economy Cover (773 F.2d 411), and Brandir International v. Cascade Pacific Lumber (834 F.2d 1142).
Those are just a few cases that talk about copyrightable subject matter.
There are many advantages to copyright registration, however. These include registration constituting prima facie evidence of the validity of the copyright, ability to recover statutory damages, and the ability to recover attorneys fees.
Copyright is a very interesting, and deceptively complex field, but I would encourage you to learn more about it. The drawbacks are the code is relatively vague and much of copyright law is caselaw, which is neither easy to interpret or necessarily consistent. If in doubt, talk to an expert.
This is legal information, not legal advice, consult an attorney, blah blah.
I'm going to claim ignorance on the part of patents, but copyright starts at the moment of fixation in a tangible medium (17 USC Sec. 102), and lasts for a period of 70 years (in the case of a natural person author, or 95 years from publication or 120 years from the time of fixation in the case of a "work made for hire." 17 USC Sec. 302.
Additionally, you can sue for damages you incurred before registering, because registration has no effect on whether or not copyright protection attaches. This was not always the case, but the 1976 amendments to the copyright laws (in order to bring the law in conformity with the Berne Convention) got rid of many of the formalities of copyright.
You do have to register the work before you can commence the suit, and registering does effect statutory damages and the ability to recover attorney fees. Registering is a good idea, if you are publishing the work or otherwise have a reason to think that there may possibly be a suit over the copyright, because it is prima facie evidence of the copyright validity. This is a rebuttable presumption, though.
Well, unclean hands usually deals with remedies in equity (injunction, specific performance, etc.) with respect to non-performance of a contract. First, these are not suits for breach of contract, and second, money damages are not equitable remedies. Therefore, unclean hands does not apply. While I'm sure there are contracts between Media Defender and the RIAA, the potential defendants are not parties to a contract.
Sure the arguement can be brought up that some people want to know how it works. Well? Go work for a bloody gaming company who designs how it works.
Yeah, because obviously if I want to find out about anything I can just apply for a job at the company, which I will get. And fortunately the company will just ask me what I want to do and let me do it. Just like when I want to see movies before they come out I can just decide to get a job at a movie studio and they will let me watch the movies.
Fines are not tax deductible, at least in the US. It's contrary to public policy. Just like you can't write off speeding tickets as a business expense. Actually, maybe the IRS could get them if they wrote off the cost of the payola, because bribes are also not tax deductible.
Well, techincally you're correct. Comic Sans is not a font, it's a typeface. The actual file that describes how the typeface is rendered is a font, but what the user sees is a typeface.
I know you were trying to be humorous, but I think the orbiter's computers might want to know if there is a huge hunk of steel still attatched. In any case, during the launch, and during the time which the fuel tank would seperate they astronauts are strapped in, and the fuel tank is on the belly of the orbiter.
Actually, almost every part of prepress up to when they use Computer-To-Plate machine to make the printing plates for the offset printers is digital. But they aren't really managing the rights of the digital part of the value chain, now are they?
They in fact did "just remove the key." The article states that "At the request of the state education department two years ago, Texas Instruments had disabled the decimal-to-fraction key and left it blank on calculators intended for middle school students." So it sounds like your's is a very plausable explanation.
Actually, it would not be up to a judge. It would be up to a jury, as the jury is the trier of fact, and the determination of the work being marginally creative or not is a question of fact. It could possibly be up to a judge if both parties had waived their right to a jury trial.
Well, the problem is a lot of GPS Navigation systems use DVD's to store the maps, so the manufacturers decided, 'well, lets let it play DVD movies while were at it.' I would think that most people would be intelligent enough to know that you don't watch a movie when your driving.
I also switched to Firefox a long time ago, when it was like.2. When I get a site that doesn't render like the designers wanted I also open up IE to view it.
This could present a problem, what if a malicious person decided they would make a website that exploited a commonly unpatched IE vulnerability and made the site where it didn't render correctly in Firefox. You try going to the site in Firefox, doesn't look right, and also doesn't execute code remotely, but then your like 'Well I guess I'll have to look at it in IE' so you fire up IE and visit the site and then you get hit with the exploit?
As long as there are sites that you still have to use IE for you will have to make sure you keep up with all the exploits for IE and make sure its patched on the off chance that you have to use.
If your using MS SQL server you can get the BigPubs2000 database. If you've ever used SQL Server then you probably know what the Pubs database is, and this is a really big version of it. It's about 200 MB. you can google to find a download site for it.
Other states courts rulings are pursuasive, but they are not binding. The only precedent that a court must follow is from a higher court, such as a state appellate or supreme court and obviously the US Supreme Court.
Re:And by keeping a loaded gun in my mailbox...
on
Safe and Insecure?
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· Score: 1
There's tons of stuff that you can't do with mailboxes. You can be fined for placing a mailable item in a mailbox. You can't affix advertising to a mailbox or its supporting structure, you can't hang any nonmailable item to the mailbox. Mailbox manufacturers must obtain approval from the postal service for their mailboxes. You have to get permission to use a custom built mailbox. If you decide to put numbers on your mailbox they have to be at least one inch tall.
I never really knew all this stuff about mail boxes until my friend got his visit, and usually they don't do anything to you for doing it, but they could.
Re:And by keeping a loaded gun in my mailbox...
on
Safe and Insecure?
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Except its illegal to use your mailbox for that.
I have a friend that needed to give another friend back a fake bomb used in a school play. He decided to return it to the other friend's mail box, thinking that he would notify the friend before the postman came by. Unfortunately he forgot, but my friend who had the mailbox found his mail laying right on top of the fake bomb, apparently the postman did not seem to be bothered by the bomb. A few days later he got a visit from Postal Inspectors and was luckily not put in jail, but they did inform him that it was illegal and that mailboxes were not "personal receptacles."
Usually when you purchase an electronic lock you can choose between a Fail-Safe and Fail-Secure variant. With Fail-Safe the lock unlocks when electricity is remove, and you can get what Fail-Secure does.
Check out gmail.google.com now. There is a FAQ, and even a signup so they will send you email about new updates. Either real or more elaborate joke than before.
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I love lay people spouting so called constitutional law. Have you ever read the whole Constitution, or any Constitutional caselaw? The 5th amendment only protects you from being a witness against yourself, it doesn't protect you from having to do anything that might possibly lead to you giving up information that can be used against you.
Wow, a person that actually cites his/her references without just regurgitating what they have read on somebody's web site or blog about copyright. Too bad they aren't bluebook cites (Just kidding). I just get a little frustrated with all these people who think they are giving useful information but are just confusing everybody. A little ironic how many slashdotters (but not all) make fun of lawyers and the legal system, yet try to pretend they know what they are talking about.
Just a word of advice for all those armchair copyright lawyers: the copyright law is much more interesting and complex than the Copyright Code would lead you to believe. It is very vague and has many reasonable yet contradictory interpretations. By all means, if it something that interests you then seek out information about it. While the Internet is a great resource for many things, the law is not necessarily one of those. Reputable Internet sources of things like interpretations of statutes and caselaw are few and far between. Print sources are probably the best way to learn about it. Hopefully there is a law library near you that you can visit to learn about these things. If you happen to stumble upon one that has a copy of Nimmer on Copyright (the most cited secondary authority on copyright) then that is a great resource. There can't be enough said about good ole booklearnin'.
You are correct. Putting pen to paper is almost certainly "fixation in a tangible medium of expression." 17 USC 102, but you also must make sure you have copyrightable subject matter in order to enjoy the protection of copyright. The code doesn't say what copyrightable subject matter is, so you would have to go to case law to figure that out (or hire an attorney). Some cases you can look at are Burrow-Giles Lithograpic v. Sarony (111 U.S. 53), Bleistein v. Donaldson (188 U.S. 239), Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel (36 F. Supp 2d 191), Gracen v. Bradford Exchange (698 F.2d 300), Feist v. Rural Telephone (499 U.S. 340), CDN v. Kapes (197 F.3d 1256), Nash v. CBS (899 F.2d 1537), Baker v. Selden (101 U.S. 99), Nichols v. Universal (45 F.2d 119), Kregos v. Associated Press (937 F.2d 700), Apple Computer v. Franklin Computer (714 F.2d 1240), Lotus Development v. Borland (49 F.2d 807), Mazer v. Stein (347 U.S. 201), Kieselstein-Cord v. Accessories by Pearl (632 F.2d 989), Carol Barnhardt v. Economy Cover (773 F.2d 411), and Brandir International v. Cascade Pacific Lumber (834 F.2d 1142).
Those are just a few cases that talk about copyrightable subject matter.
There are many advantages to copyright registration, however. These include registration constituting prima facie evidence of the validity of the copyright, ability to recover statutory damages, and the ability to recover attorneys fees.
Copyright is a very interesting, and deceptively complex field, but I would encourage you to learn more about it. The drawbacks are the code is relatively vague and much of copyright law is caselaw, which is neither easy to interpret or necessarily consistent. If in doubt, talk to an expert.
This is legal information, not legal advice, consult an attorney, blah blah.
I'm going to claim ignorance on the part of patents, but copyright starts at the moment of fixation in a tangible medium (17 USC Sec. 102), and lasts for a period of 70 years (in the case of a natural person author, or 95 years from publication or 120 years from the time of fixation in the case of a "work made for hire." 17 USC Sec. 302.
Additionally, you can sue for damages you incurred before registering, because registration has no effect on whether or not copyright protection attaches. This was not always the case, but the 1976 amendments to the copyright laws (in order to bring the law in conformity with the Berne Convention) got rid of many of the formalities of copyright.
You do have to register the work before you can commence the suit, and registering does effect statutory damages and the ability to recover attorney fees. Registering is a good idea, if you are publishing the work or otherwise have a reason to think that there may possibly be a suit over the copyright, because it is prima facie evidence of the copyright validity. This is a rebuttable presumption, though.
Well, unclean hands usually deals with remedies in equity (injunction, specific performance, etc.) with respect to non-performance of a contract. First, these are not suits for breach of contract, and second, money damages are not equitable remedies. Therefore, unclean hands does not apply. While I'm sure there are contracts between Media Defender and the RIAA, the potential defendants are not parties to a contract.
Sure the arguement can be brought up that some people want to know how it works. Well? Go work for a bloody gaming company who designs how it works.
Yeah, because obviously if I want to find out about anything I can just apply for a job at the company, which I will get. And fortunately the company will just ask me what I want to do and let me do it. Just like when I want to see movies before they come out I can just decide to get a job at a movie studio and they will let me watch the movies.
Fines are not tax deductible, at least in the US. It's contrary to public policy. Just like you can't write off speeding tickets as a business expense. Actually, maybe the IRS could get them if they wrote off the cost of the payola, because bribes are also not tax deductible.
Well, techincally you're correct. Comic Sans is not a font, it's a typeface. The actual file that describes how the typeface is rendered is a font, but what the user sees is a typeface.
I know you were trying to be humorous, but I think the orbiter's computers might want to know if there is a huge hunk of steel still attatched. In any case, during the launch, and during the time which the fuel tank would seperate they astronauts are strapped in, and the fuel tank is on the belly of the orbiter.
Actually, almost every part of prepress up to when they use Computer-To-Plate machine to make the printing plates for the offset printers is digital. But they aren't really managing the rights of the digital part of the value chain, now are they?
Well, anyone encountering that should have seen it coming. Do you get a subscription to anything for free that does not renew automatically?
They in fact did "just remove the key." The article states that "At the request of the state education department two years ago, Texas Instruments had disabled the decimal-to-fraction key and left it blank on calculators intended for middle school students." So it sounds like your's is a very plausable explanation.
Actually, it would not be up to a judge. It would be up to a jury, as the jury is the trier of fact, and the determination of the work being marginally creative or not is a question of fact. It could possibly be up to a judge if both parties had waived their right to a jury trial.
Well, the problem is a lot of GPS Navigation systems use DVD's to store the maps, so the manufacturers decided, 'well, lets let it play DVD movies while were at it.' I would think that most people would be intelligent enough to know that you don't watch a movie when your driving.
Do you include the 6432 when you sign the name Mumbly Joe?
I also switched to Firefox a long time ago, when it was like .2. When I get a site that doesn't render like the designers wanted I also open up IE to view it.
This could present a problem, what if a malicious person decided they would make a website that exploited a commonly unpatched IE vulnerability and made the site where it didn't render correctly in Firefox. You try going to the site in Firefox, doesn't look right, and also doesn't execute code remotely, but then your like 'Well I guess I'll have to look at it in IE' so you fire up IE and visit the site and then you get hit with the exploit?
As long as there are sites that you still have to use IE for you will have to make sure you keep up with all the exploits for IE and make sure its patched on the off chance that you have to use.
If your using MS SQL server you can get the BigPubs2000 database. If you've ever used SQL Server then you probably know what the Pubs database is, and this is a really big version of it. It's about 200 MB. you can google to find a download site for it.
These things will have a lot better antennas than your AP does, and probably has a lot more transmitting power.
Well I slept with your wife!
Other states courts rulings are pursuasive, but they are not binding. The only precedent that a court must follow is from a higher court, such as a state appellate or supreme court and obviously the US Supreme Court.
There's tons of stuff that you can't do with mailboxes. You can be fined for placing a mailable item in a mailbox. You can't affix advertising to a mailbox or its supporting structure, you can't hang any nonmailable item to the mailbox. Mailbox manufacturers must obtain approval from the postal service for their mailboxes. You have to get permission to use a custom built mailbox. If you decide to put numbers on your mailbox they have to be at least one inch tall.
I never really knew all this stuff about mail boxes until my friend got his visit, and usually they don't do anything to you for doing it, but they could.
Except its illegal to use your mailbox for that.
I have a friend that needed to give another friend back a fake bomb used in a school play. He decided to return it to the other friend's mail box, thinking that he would notify the friend before the postman came by. Unfortunately he forgot, but my friend who had the mailbox found his mail laying right on top of the fake bomb, apparently the postman did not seem to be bothered by the bomb. A few days later he got a visit from Postal Inspectors and was luckily not put in jail, but they did inform him that it was illegal and that mailboxes were not "personal receptacles."
Usually when you purchase an electronic lock you can choose between a Fail-Safe and Fail-Secure variant. With Fail-Safe the lock unlocks when electricity is remove, and you can get what Fail-Secure does.
They must have caught that too, because there is a TM now, and a privacy policy, FAQ and email interest list.
Check out gmail.google.com now. There is a FAQ, and even a signup so they will send you email about new updates. Either real or more elaborate joke than before.