Re: Copyright & The New World Economic Order

> On Fri, Jul 16, 1999, Lance Purple <lpurple[_at_]netcom.com> wrote:
> >
> > It isn't possible for the average citizen to determine whether
> > they are breaking the law, unless (a) they never copy anything
> > or (b) they fork over several hundred dollars to an attorney
> > before -each- act of copying.

I think that this is a real problem. One reason is that the party stepping into this void is invariably the copyright holder, who will invariably have an extremely expansive ideas of how far his copyright reaches.

On Sat, 17 Jul 1999, Robert Cumbow <rcumbow[_at_]grahamdunn.com> wrote:
>
> I find it astonishing that so many people on this list apparently
> believe that the law should be clear and pat and exactly the same
> for every person and situation, instead of flexible enough to
> accommodate different sets of facts, circumstances, and points of
> view. The flexibility inherent in a common law system of justice
> like the one Americans inherited from the British is precisely
> what separates a free people from an autocracy.

I think that you overstate your case here. First, much of the law seems to swing back and forth between bright line law and substantial distinction. The myriad small distinctions made sometimes are of course the result of attorneys making loopholes so that their case can go against the prevailing law. After awhile though the loopholes and distinctions start to swallow the law, and some court steps in and rationalizes it again, setting out maybe some more bright lines, which ultimately get distinguished...

Also, I think that it is brash to equivalance our common law with our freedom and indicate that without it, we would have an autocracy. I think in particular our foreign brethern on this list are probably shaking their heads over this.

There are definate advantages to a system where the law is pretty much black and white. As noted above, this is esp. true when you haven't gone to law school, which on the average only about 1% of the population actually do go (in the U.S.).

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The preceding was not a legal opinion, and is not my employer's.
Original portions Copyright 1999 Bruce E. Hayden,all rights reserved
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Bruce E. Hayden                      bhayden[_at_]acm.org
Phoenix, Arizona                     bhayden[_at_]ieee.org
                                     bhayden[_at_]copatlaw.com