Spokeswoman says its still a crime, compares it to shoplifting.
Many of us are well aware of illegal video streaming sites that allow you to watch new movie releases on-demand.
Obviously it’s illegal to upload and make content available, but what’s sort of murky is whether or not it’s illegal to simply watch it.
According to MPAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Kaltman it is, though oddly equates it with physical theft.
“Nobody who isn’t a criminal would walk into Blockbuster or Wal-Mart or Best Buy, wherever they’re selling or renting DVDs, take it off the shelf, put it under their arm and not pay for it,” she told the Chicago Sun-Times. “For a generation that has grown up with the Internet … there is a perception that because it is there, it’s available and it’s free, I can take it.”
Copyright attorney Steve Englund said while individuals whom post copyrighted material online without permission are indeed committing a crime, those watching that material may not necessarily be guilty of anything.
“It is a little more complicated question whether it is illegal to watch it when someone else has put it online,” he said.
Mickie Piatt, law professor and interim director of the Intellectual Property Law program at Chicago-Kent College of Law, said there are “some criminal penalties, but those have not been used as much.”
Perhaps it’s learned a lesson from the RIAA, that targeting consumers of your product never turns out well.
Stay tuned.
jared@zeropaid.com
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The interesting thing is, I have managed to watch entire movies in stores while waiting around for the wife and kids to finish christmas shopping. Is that theft too? I didn’t pay anyone anything for the movie.
yeah so this is no different then if i dl it, as for i didn’t put it online to begin with. I will be sure to continue downloading and uploading. thanks for the heads up saying its legal now.
no it isnt theft.
when a car is broken into and the dash ripped open and the stereo is removed then the stereo is stolen missing there is now an empty dash bay where the stereo used to be.
when you stream something you are only potentially copying the content (if you can rip the stream)
most of the time the streaming would probably fall under “public performance”
some might argue that money is being stolen wrong to steal the money you would have to break into the accounts of the mpaa and steal the money.
even then the money is not missing it is data being shifted around.
This is copyright infringement, not theft. The thugs in the entertainment industry are “stealing” our language as well as our legal system and Congress.
There was an excellent graphic someone posted once, clearly demonstrating the difference between theft, commercial copyright infringement, filesharing and piracy.
The text was as follows:
Theft – removes the original.
Gross Commercial Copyright Infringement – copies the original and sells it for a profit.
File Sharing – copies the original and gives it away for free.
Piracy – stealing s*** on the high seas.
It’s basically sabre rattling on the side, though at this point in time, I know there is a movement by the copyright maximalists to put in a three strikes regime in the US. It’s only just beginning, so nothing much is being said at this point, but believe me when I say that it’s only a matter of time at this point before all hell breaks lose over the subject of three strikes in the US.
To expect society to know what is and what isn’t copyrighted is ridiculous, or even to expect everyone to know that a file is an unauthorized copy before accessing it is downright illogical. Copyright extends to distribution, not access. Only the individual uploading the file is responsible for copyright. Although it has never gone to court, I assume that even seeders don’t necessarily break copyright law since the original up loader in hosting the file insinuates that he has the right to distribute the file and to hand that distribution right over to you. Only the original uploaded should technically be capable of copyright infringement since all other parties are unaware that the file is copyrighted. The copyright holder should require to inform said individual of the infringement, should he refuse to comply then, and only then should a lawsuit be allowed. If the copyright cartel can’t work in such a system they should simply not exist, as any other restriction is unfair to society. The onus should be on them to monitor and protect their “property”, not everyone else who is having their creative scope limited.
Hey gee bee maybe you should shut your mouth and quit being an ignorant asshole.If people do not want the material they produce to fall to piracy then maybe they should learn how to better protect their material.If it was not for piracy then there would be a lot of unheard artist in this world and a lot of unpopular movies that would have never been known.People like you who let the government control their every move is nothing but a pawn,so call it stealing if you want.Maybe we should fight back and say that we wasted some valuable life when they produce something that is complete and utter shit.No laws against poor directing,hmm should be.So gee bee shut up before you find yourself at best buy tomorrow
For a second I thought you were referring to mountain_rage, ha ha.
Why do people feel entitled to whatever they can get for free on the internet? The motion picture industry, while it’s business model is far from perfect, has every right to press charges for stealing their copyrighted material. Mountain_rage…you’re either an idiot, or are twisting the legalese in your favor. I think the latter. You know it’s copyright infringement if you have not paid for a licensed copy for personal viewing. You can argue semantics all you like. Stealing/Infringement/etc….whatever it is, is wrong. The movie industry’s business model is very mis-structured, but that doesn’t justify taking what you haven’t paid for.
Yet another drone spewing the disgusting secretion that is the fallacious, overused, and utterly idiotic preaching. It can be said that you are just another annoyingly naive dumb ass that just changed names, but whether that assumption is true does not matter, as we’ve already taken down at least ten of you. Try to write something new we haven’t heard and destroyed more than twice.
Haha, the RIAA, MPAA, and the Government is so ineffective they can’t even decide what is or is not theft.
No worries, I’ll keep committing copyright infringement…oops I mean “stealing” until someone comes along to stop me or until the filthy greedy music and movie associations collapse under the weight of their own marketing lethargy…whichever comes first.
And at which time some goon comes to haul me away I’ll upload my terabytes of content onto the web with a big “FUCK YOU” attached so companies can lose an exponentially more money.
It’s not like the collective mass of CEOs are running out of artists to shit on by giving them a couple pennies per CD anyway. Executives still have plenty of hundred dollar bills to wipe their ass with. Lord forbid if they should have to take a shit and wipe their ass with a twenty.
The movie and music industry needs to evolve their business strategies or else die off. Survival of the fittest baby.
Information is free, if you have a problem with that go suck an egg.