Libraries and copyright laws.

J

jps

Valued Senior Member
Not sure which forum this fits into so i'm putting it here.

Maybe someone with a legal background can answer this.

Whats the difference between a library buying a book and lending it out free of charge to the general public and someone buying a book and putting the contents online?
Either way someone borrowing/viewing it can read it without paying, or if they choose, copy it and sell it for profit.
Why is one legal and the other not?

Many librarys have videos and music too.. so it seems there's a parrallel with file sharing.
 
I'm no legal expert, but my guess is that this is allowed because the library purchases and therefore rightfully owns the copy of the book, which allows them to do whatever they want with it as long as they don't charge money or violate copyright laws by unlawfully reproducing it.

Kind of like letting your friend borrow a book or DVD.
 
I suppose, but if someone buys a book and puts it online wouldn't that be the same thing?
You're allowed to do what you want with copyrighted material, including making copies for your own use, so putting a book or song online, seems like it should be legal. I guess thats a different argument though
 
Its MP3s all over again
except this time big greedy companys arnt involved :)
 
I just think that the way copyright laws are applied to digital data dont' make a lot of sense...I mean it would be legal for you to lend your cd to your friend, but illegal for him to make a copy of it, so if you put a file on a file server, it seems like that should be legal, but if someone downloads it and therefore copys it that should be illegal.
 
how come video stores rent out games and movies, but not cds........
yet music is free on the radio, but them guys dont seem to complain about that....

whats going on in this topsy turny world!!


i got the perfect slogan for a Tshirt
we got free-speach, why not free-listening!
:)
 
Originally posted by A Canadian
yet music is free on the radio, but them guys dont seem to complain about that....
Click to expand...

When music is played on the radio, the musician/band (or whomever owns the rights to the songs) gets money.
 
Originally posted by Galt
When music is played on the radio, the musician/band (or whomever owns the rights to the songs) gets money.
Click to expand...

no wonder we cant get ride of eminem :rolleyes:
 
Librarys dont violate copywright laws because they dont copy the books they are storing dur. They buy some coppys of the book and thats how many they have, they dont start printing thier own. If you upload a file and "share" it with a lot of other people, you still have that file, and they have that file too, a copy has been made hence violating the copy right which is held by somone who is not you.
 
then how come you cannot rent CDs?


its just as easy to copy a book than it is a movie or cd...
 
In an action much simular to what the RIAA employed, several associations dealing with libraries have petitioned to be "friends of the court" to give dispostions and testimony on behalf of p2p clients. The reasoning being that they do not want to be held liable for copywrite infringement while signing out cd's and movies that some libraries carry.
 
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