Copyright Infringement

Comments by Steve Rynas, KE6TDP

Really we should not use the phrase "copyright infringement". What is actually happening is that those who assert copyright "ownership" are actually STEALING our right to fair use.

To make a long complicated story short, those who possess copyright are claiming ownership rights that they never possessed before. For example, the regional coding of DVDs stops you from watching a DVD made in the USA in Europe. However, if you have a book made in the USA you could still read it in Europe. Yet the content producers claim that if you view your DVD in the "wrong" region you are stealing. But the real theft is they have reduced your rights in how you can use the content that you have bought!!!!!

Steves comments were made regarding a recent California court ruling:

A judge warns copyright owners must consider “fair use” before sending Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notices.

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel of San Jose, Calif., ruled Wednesday that music companies cannot issue blanket orders to remove YouTube videos unless they first determine if each video is using the copyrighted music in a way that's legally permissible, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday. Fogel ruled that a California mother’s use of the Prince song “Let's Go Crazy #1” in the 29-second YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1KfJHFWlhQ of her child dancing in the kitchen table was acceptable.

Universal Music, which owns the rights to the Prince song, should have considered whether Stephanie Lenz violated to “fair use” doctrine before it demanded YouTube remove the video. Good faith reviews will help ensure that the "efficiency of the Internet will continue to improve and that the variety and quality of services on the Internet will expand," the judge concluded. Universal argued that copyright owners should not have to consider fair use before issuing a takedown notice because fair use is simply an excused form of infringement instead of an authorized one. Even if a content owner did have to evaluate fair use, they should only have to do so after the takedown notice is issued.

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Footnote by Pat Mullen:
Here is another egregious example of copyright infringement run amuck on YouTube!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6o3SVH7U18&feature=related

August 18, 2008

Dear Patrick,
As you may know, each year we ask for your help in sending a child to school by participating in our Back to School Program. Well, we are happy to report that many people have answered the call. We will be sending out an official "thank you" soon (with photos).

If you haven't yet sent in your check or, perhaps, didn't know about this drive, there are many children who will not be able to attend school without help. Here in Mexico, it costs about $175 to send a child to school for the year. This includes the required school uniform and gym clothes, as well as some supplies, and the inscription fee. School is starting next week, so if you are planning on helping, we'd ask that you do so right away.

Again, thanks for all your support and prayers. We need them both!

In Him,

Jim Doss

H.I.S. Ministries
P.O. Box "C," Tecate, CA 91980