Tide Turning on Copyright Abuses?
As reported on Groklaw - Complaint Filed by CCIA with FTC Re Fair Use, a conglomerate of computer, technology and communication companies are filing suit against major copyright holders such as movie studios, sports leagues and publishers, to prevent them from continuing the practice of misleading the public with their threatening copyright notices. The nitty-gritty of the filing is that notices such as
"WARNING: For private use only. Federal law provides severe civil and criminal penalties for the unauthorized reproduction, distribution or exhibition of copyrighted motion pictures and video formats."
at the start of movies serves to intimidate the public from attempting the many operations to which they are legally entitled, and even encouraged, by US Federal laws and equivalents globally.
Time to get on the bandwagon? Anyone else interested in conspicuously taking photos of the copyright notice on the opening day of some blockbuster movie, and when they come to eject us from the cinema, find that we're handcuffed to our front row seats?