Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83 SMI; site sun.uucp Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!harpo!decvax!decwrl!sun!gnu From: gnu@sun.uucp (John Gilmore) Newsgroups: net.followup,net.news,net.legal Subject: Re: Theft of Copyrighted Material Message-ID: <657@sun.uucp> Date: Tue, 20-Mar-84 21:55:02 EST Article-I.D.: sun.657 Posted: Tue Mar 20 21:55:02 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 21-Mar-84 08:25:11 EST References: <6915@unc.UUCP> <929@qubix.UUCP> <1772@hplabsc.UUCP> Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc. Lines: 22 Society's aim in setting up laws is to make people behave "reasonably" towards each other (simplification of course). The tack that the U.S. seems to take is to write the laws so that just about everything is illegal, relying on the hassle, cost, and time of pushing a case thru the clogged courts to prevent this from being a serious problem. (It IS serious in that the illegality of everything is used to TARGET certain people and groups, but it's too unwieldy to use on everyone.) So while it's true that ASCAP could sue every bar in North America, they won't, because it's a losing proposition. Somehow I doubt that a recording artist could lose money from having the words to their song posted to Usenet, but if they want to pay lawyers to stop the practice, well, that's the kind of client lawyers like best. On the other hand, having your unpublished (or published!) novel reproduced in toto for a national audience would be a reasonable thing to sue about, since you can show and recover for actual financial damage. --> I'm not a lawyer, but I live under these laws, so I'm required (by --> law) to understand them. Right? So it must be true...or Catch-22.