[d@DCC] Rabble Rumble & Balance of "Human Rights" in Copyright...

[Russell McOrmond]

On Thu, 26 Sep 2002, Seth Johnson wrote:

> . . . I hope this doesn't allude to the bogus notion of
> "moral rights" in the WIPO Performances and Phonograms
> Treaty (i.e., the rights of attribution, which makes sense,
> and of "integrity," which is strange in the digital era,
> except that it becomes abhorrent when coupled with the
> "support DRM metadata" provisions in that treaty).


  This is where more thinking needs to be done.  We have had discussions 
where it has been suggested that "moral rights" should extend forever, and 
economic rights should be very limited (matter of years or a few tens of 
years, but nothing anywhere near 70).

  When you slide from "credit where credit is due" to the "integrity of
the work", you get closer to what we would think of as economic rights,
but that some authors consider to be moral rights.  Where that line is
drawn seems to be different for different people, with some going to an
extreme claiming that the ability to restrict non-commercial communication
of a work is somehow a "moral right".

  A clause saying "support DRM metadata" is too vague.  Somewhere between
when an author sends something to the publisher, and it reaches our
senses, that metadata will be lost.  We should be asking questions like
"lost for what purpose", not making incomprehensable pronouncements that
stripping or changing metadata is itself a crime.

  The whole policy discussion around legal protection for TPM and legal
protection for RMI (TPM meta-data) seems to have been void of any 
technological knowledge, which is why I am so glad that so many technical 
people have become involved at this time.



  The section-92 review is soon - have each of you spoken or written to
your MP? http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-42/36498.html#section-92


> Seth Johnson
---
 Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
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