ACTA: An Attack on Common Sense?

Feb 17, 2009, 17:02 (0 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Brendan Scott)

[ Thanks to Brendan Scott for this link. ]

"Criminal sanctions for copyright infringement have always been tied to infringement for the purpose of sale of the infringing article. This provides an understandable ground rule for determining what is and what is not criminal (ie "was this copy made for the purpose of sale?"). These new provisions would convert any infringing activity into a crime based (apparently) on the number of times it has occurred. Exactly what will constitute "commercial scale" is anyone's guess. However, is it unreasonable to assume that any copies beyond what is absolutely necessary for a person's own use, with no allowance for ordinary convenience will be liable to being classified as being of a commercial scale?[2] If you make a copy for the bedroom and a copy for the car, will you be skirting "commercial scale"?"

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