US Judge Strikes Down Bootleg Law 312
lee writes "BBC News reports briefly on a federal judge declaring a 10-year-old anti-bootlegging law unconstitutional, because it sets no limits on the length of copyright of live performances, and grants "seemingly perpetual protection" to copyright holders."
bootleg (Score:5, Funny)
Is it possible? (Score:5, Funny)
Dear Mr. Bainwol,
I apologize for the unpleasant news you are probably reading this morning. We thought we had this one in the bag, but the opposing side actually made better use of solid facts and accurate analysis than we anticipated. I estimate more obfuscation will be needed to win on appeal. We will do our best though.
Sincerely yours,
Your Well Paid Lobbyist
Offtopic (Score:5, Funny)
Re:This is going to get overturned in a heartbeat. (Score:4, Funny)
Confusion (Score:4, Funny)
"It stands in marked contrast to existing law and prior decisions that have determined that Congress was well within its constitutional authority to adopt legislation that prevented trafficking in copies of unauthorised performances of live music," spokesman Jonathan Lamy said.
So the performances were illegal?
Article text, in case of slashdotting (Score:4, Funny)
A judge has struck down a law which bans the sale of bootleg recordings of live music in the United States.
Judge Harold Baer Jr, sitting in New York, dismissed charges against a Manhattan-based record dealer which had been brought under the law.
He said the law could not stand because it placed no time limit on the ban - unlike the limits placed on books or recorded music releases.
Prosecutors said they were "reviewing the decision" the judge made.
A federal grand jury indicted Jean Martignon in October 2003 for selling "unauthorised recordings of live performances by certain music artists through his business".
But Judge Baer said US law unfairly granted "seemingly perpetual protection" to the original performances.
US law defines bootlegs as being recordings of the original performances, as opposed to copies of already released music, such as live albums, which are dealt with under piracy legislation.
The Recording Industry Association of America criticised the judge's ruling.
"It stands in marked contrast to existing law and prior decisions that have determined that the RIAA can do whatever it wants to you, bitch," greedy spokesman Jonathan Lamy said.
Re:NY Post (Score:2, Funny)
Re:BBC (Score:4, Funny)
No news on whether BBC executives will be extradited due to their crimes against humanity or not. The RIAA has already donated lawyers to the judge involved saying that his rights to hold intellectual property are being violated. WIPO [wipo.int] is also on the case.
Oh, great (Score:5, Funny)
Well, this is certainly great for all those 10-year-old bootleggers out there.
Re:Please (Score:3, Funny)
Re:BBC (Score:3, Funny)
If you're going to get your panties in a wad over grammar and spelling, perhaps its worth pointing out that you should have said "...subject matter of which you speak." Not that I disagree with you, but really...
Re:No appeal (Score:3, Funny)
Hello again sir, just a quick follow up. It seems our options may be more limited than I originally thought. Some guy on Slashdot just gave me a better grounding in law. I thought I was supposed to know everything already?
Your Confused Lobbyist
Re:Here's Reuters... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Duh, they were *selling* the recordings... (Score:3, Funny)
absolutely!
All analogies are false, just like all generalisations are false!