File sharing

[alec]

It has been pointed out by e-mail that file sharing of movies on the web is piracy. It therefore comes under FAQ 3.4.

[zushiomaru]

even loops? that aren't av,i'm not talking about CC,which get frequently put from tape to avi/wmv but others not officially available nowadays???

thx for the warning. we'll keep it strictly FTP/Mirc & trading via post then...

sincerely,zushiomaru

[alec]

I suppose someone still owns the loops, but some are more likely to complain than others.

[beutelwolf]

alec wrote:

> I suppose someone still owns the loops, but some are more
> likely to complain than others.

A very British way to approach the issue.

But what is the actual legal situation?
I once attended a presentation on issues like patents, trademarks and copyright, and there the speaker mentioned something along the lines of "if you do not exercise your copyright, you'll lose it", i.e. if someone lets their product go out of print for a long time they'll lose copyright protection.
Tricky bits are: what constitutes "a long time", and how do these matters vary between different countries?

[mgyr]

> I once attended a presentation on issues like patents, trademarks and > > copyright, and there the speaker mentioned something along the lines > > of "if you do not exercise your copyright, you'll lose it", i.e. if someone lets > their product go out of print for a long time they'll lose copyright protection.

I totally agree that it should be this way. But I seriously doubt that such laws exist/are practiced anywhere in the world! Please prove me wrong...

[MacD]

Very simple facts about Copyright Law - The Patent Office.

[alec]

I suppose when I wrote 'some are more likely to complain than others' I was thinking of the British 70s and early 80s producer of loops, John Lindsay, who eventually got so fed up with being raided by the police that he withdrew completely from the business and has spoken about it only when interviewed about Mary Millington. I would imagine he would be unlikely to complain. Those who are still selling them officially or, provoked into action by the interest shown in 70s stuff, who are thinking of re-releasing them, would be very likely to complain. Of course, apart from the specific examples mentioned in this thread, it is impossible to know. So people should please not post links.