Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
By a simple "unauthorized copies are illegal" interpretation, I could create a website on my own servers, and say "I don't allow anyone running a PC instead of a Mac to copy my words; anyone who visits my website from a PC is guilty of copyright infringement." I could set up a PC-Accessible version of my website and put a $50/month subscription fee on it. Then I could track some site visit numbers, and start handing out lawsuits. I wouldn't even have to give notice on the website itself--technically, one is supposed to get permission before making a copy, and the fact that "everyone else allows this kind of copying" is irrelevant.
Of course that's ridiculous. But that's the kind of ridiculous that comes from not acknowledging that the meaning and purpose of "copies" have changed, and copyright law needs to be adapted to the reality of computers and the internet.
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At least in Europe, it has been.
Transient copies created as an essential part of the process of using the item are excluded, as is (through complicated wording) caching of data to speed up browsing, which would also otherwise be illegal.
Providing that you have legal access to the content being browsed, the acts of copying required to actually deliver the content to you are not infringing.