Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Are you suggesting that every site which offers public domain books for download should be required to have a detailed knowledge of what is and is not in the public domain in every country in the world?
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Are you suggesting that someone who is distributing content doesn't need to worry about the legalities of copyright law in whatever country they're distributing to? If someone is going to distribute copyrighted material, you would expect them to follow copyright law, wouldn't you? Regardless of whether that distribution is physical or digital.
If they are only distributing domestically, then all they have to worry about is abiding by their local laws. If they choose to add a second country to their distribution channel, then yes, they would be expected to obey the laws of the new country that they are going to be doing business in. You can't ship a physical product to a country that it is illegal in, can you?
Just because the internet makes global distribution trivial, does not absolve someone of the need to follow and obey the laws in other countries. Does this turn into a big ugly legal mess because of all of the inconsistencies in copyright... absolutely. That's one of the reasons why current copyright laws are stupid when it comes to digital IP. Doesn't mean you can ignore it though.