Quote:
Originally Posted by Rbneader
Format shifting has been illegal before, and was legally considered piracy/copyright violation. It remains a grey area now, with exceptions granted for some formats and not others. Naturally, all of this depends on jurisdiction.
|
Yes, I know that. Ralph posted a hypothetical, and asked if he'd pirated the book. Despite the legality of "format shifting," I stand by my answer. In the scenario he posited, he didn't violate the
intent of copyright law. I don't believe he would be chased as a pirate, in
that circumstance. If he was asking "is there any offense here that could be pressed?," then format-shifting is the obvious answer. I think I covered that in my comment about dimbulbs and the unauthorized copying of the book, no?
@pwalker--you stated:
Quote:
|
There is a reason that copyright violation is civil rather than criminal.
|
That's inaccurate. There are
felony copyright infringement laws, criminal cases. Copyright infringement is
NOT only a civil crime. Granted, it's not an everyday occurrence, but it absolutely exists. Most jurisdictions would decline to prosecute it, because typically, it's some schmuck that pirated a book and the damages can't be proven, but you best betcha that infringement most certainly can be a felony if provable.
Hitch