Two stories from On the Media:
An astonishing power grab by record publishers. They want to be able to declare that you can't buy a CD, then sell it to someone else. Or give it to someone else. Imagine if you couldn't sell a used book. Or a used DVD.
They're not just saying you can't burn copies of a CD for your friends. They're saying you can't give the original. After destroying any copies you might have made.
They should lose their lawsuit. Because the consequences if they win are horrible. Libraries would be shut down, if they can't legally lend copies of books to people.
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In the other story, about prisoners at Guantanamo being subjected to loud music, they report that a lawyer wants to sue the government for copyright infringement. The Army didn't get permission to play the songs from ASCAP/BMI, and certainly not from the artists. Rage Against the Machine has explicitly asked the government not to use its music to torture people.
I'm horrified to realize that some bands would be happy to have their music used to torture. But I do wonder where this novel legal theory would end. Does the state need to get permission from a rope manufacturer to use it to hang someone? (Not that I support capital punishment.) Does a tannery need to give permission for leather to be made into a holster?
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