Re: VERY interesting copyright article

Jessica Rosner (jrosner@kino.com)
Thu, 1 Feb 2001 10:18:25 -0800 (PST)

Darryl
The very definition of copyright is ownership and you can't alter material
without permission. If this were being done strictly for home use obviously
no one would notice but the store is doing them for public rental. Again if
this were legal I could just buy a bunch of legal copies of Disney films and
insert whatever I wanted so long as I had purchased them and then I could
rent them out ?. Sorry but I don't have any sympathy for the guy and for
once I would cheer the MPPA. It goes to the heart of both copyright and
artists rights that you can't alter without permission.

Jessica

> From: Darryl Wiggers <Darryl.Wiggers@AllianceAtlantis.com>
> Reply-To: videolib@library.berkeley.edu
> Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 09:51:07 -0800 (PST)
> To: Multiple recipients of list <videolib@library.berkeley.edu>
> Subject: RE: VERY interesting copyright article
>
> Where is it written that one can't alter a legally purchased copy? The
> warning on all my videos only talks about public screenings and copying.
> That's it. Besides, it's not as if he disguising what he's doing. No one who
> is interested in purchasing an unedited version would be fooled into dealing
> with this guy...
>
> According to the Copyright Infringement Act of 1976 "Any person who, with
> fraudulent intent, removes or alters any notice of copyright appearing on a
> copy of a copyrighted work shall be fined not more than $2,500." That's it.
> Only the warning can't be "removed" or "altered." And you can't even claim
> fraud with Mr. CleanVideo. He spells out what is omitted... I can't find
> anything else in the Copyright Infringement Act that suggests that what Mr.
> CleanVideo claims he's doing can't be done. Can anyone?
>
> And let's suppose he is nailed. How is his crime different from a video
> store that sells me a "used" mangled, chewed-up video that's blurry and full
> of picture drop-outs. That video has been altered too from its original
> condition. Maybe I can get the MPAA on my local store's case...
>
> Personally I would never do business with Mr. CleanVideo because I want to
> see my movies unedited. But I'm not convinced that what he's doing is
> illegal, and cannot share in the drooling enthusiasm to have him drawn and
> quartered. I especially don't understand why people seem less bothered by
> corporations who lie, deceive, cheat, overcharge and steal from millions of
> consumers than a guy who is openly providing a seemingly legal service that
> his community clearly wants.