Recently,
Judge von Finckenstein ruled that storing copyrighted tracks in a shared folder connected to the Internet without permission is legal. He agrees that the Copyright Act makes it an offense for anyone but the copyright owner to "communicate the work to the public by telecommunication" or "authorize" others to do so. However, he pointed to the Supreme Court of Cananda's definition of authorization: To mean "authorize" as "sanction, approve and countenance." Therefore, he decided that the simple act of storing said files in a shared folder does not amount to "authorizing" others to use them, any more than placing a photocopier in a library does. That's a bit of a stretch, but it isn't the first time we've heard the "Xerox" defense.
So, in light of that decision that sent CRIA reeling (Cananda's RIAA), we have now been made aware of a survey by POLLARA inc. The purpose of which was an effort to grasp the publics take on said legislation. They let their fingers do the walking and telephoned 2300 for their thoughts.
Of the respondents who were aware of the private copying levy, 55 per cent believed that the levy did not grant the right to upload music for others to copy on file sharing services such as Kazaa. |
The people of Canada are no different than anyone else. In the first question in the survey they responed heavily in favor of the Copyright Act. Of course they don't think it is right. They don't want to take food out of anyones mouth. Nearly 70 percent said it is definately a violation of artists and songwriters rights. That's good.
However, the next question has the respondants
divided right down the middle. One half feels now they have carte blanche to
share files while the other half says they don't. Why is this, do they not
understand the judges decision? It makes no sense. Or does it?
Source: Music Industry News
