View Single Post
Old 09-11-2008, 08:56 AM   #2
Greg Anos
Grand Sorcerer
Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Greg Anos ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 11,238
Karma: 34817224
Join Date: Jan 2008
Device: Pocketbook
Quote:
Originally Posted by _Ea_ View Post
I have a question about national and international copyright law and jurisdiction(?). I'm looking for both a specific answer to the following, mostly hypothetical, situation and general comments about it in general.

I'm in Denmark and is a Danish citizen. In this situation I buy a book by a Canadian author, printed and published in USA, from where I also buy the book.

Now, Danish copyright law gives me legal right to copy a book for personal use. In this case, where I personally own the book, I am also allowed to make a digital copy (scanning and OCR'ing) - again done by myself and only for my personal use.
(Source: http://www.infokiosk.dk/sw9430.asp - it's in Danish)

Now, I then assume (as in assuming a hypothetical situation - not that it necessarily is so), that under USA copyright law, I am not allowed to make more than a photocopy (i.e. NOT a digital copy). I then think that since I'm in Denmark, Danish law will apply in this situation, but since I buy the book from USA, I wondered if I was right, and if international copyright law would apply?

Secondly, can the author or publisher limit my rights to create a copy to fewer rights than I have under Danish law, and in that case, how? I would assume the publisher may require I enter into a kind of contract in order to buy or read...?
First and foremost, I am not a lawyer. Generally, laws of a nation, are not superceded by laws of another nation. There are sometimes treaty agreements by two or more nations to jointly implement a law, but that is not the same as one nation's law being enforces in another nation. Furthermore, in order to be extradited, from another country, the other country's law has to be violated, not the first. There are certain exceptions (such as war crimes) but they are few and far between.

In detail, once the book goes into Denmark, US copyright laws stops applying. Only Denmark copyright laws applies. This was the reason for the Berne treaty, to give a basis for common copyright law. But it does not supercede local laws. Now how EU copyright laws (if any) function with existing member law, I am ignorant. Hope this helps.
Greg Anos is offline   Reply With Quote