[d@DCC] What is "intellectual property"?

[Jason Young]

>  >The problem with the term
>>piracy is not that it could not be accurate, in some circumstances,
>>but that it ignores the distinction between economically substantial
>>theft and de minimus trading.
>
>Okaaaay. This goes over my head. I think I see what you mean, but I'd
>appreciate it if you could put it into more laymanish terms for me.
>I wouldn't ask, but it does seem pertinent.

My apologies. What I was trying to say was that piracy is a very 
broad and blunt term. For example, you set up a factory, press ten 
thousand copyright-infringing CDs and sell them in the black market; 
you are considered a pirate. In a second example, you trade a couple 
mp3's online with your friend and, in the eyes of the RIAA/MPAA, you 
are also a pirate (even though in Canada if you did the same thing 
via CD, you would have no problem). The first has obvious and 
substantial economic impact for the owner of the infringed copyright. 
There is reason to use the term piracy in this context and it may be 
appropriate to do so.

The second activity has no substantial economic impact for the owner 
of the copyright. In fact, it may be that such activity actually 
benefits the copyright holder economically. De minimis non curat lex 
is a fancy latin term meaning "the law does not concern itself with 
trivial things". There has been a tradition, in copyright as in other 
law, that de minimis applies to situations like the one described in 
the second example, but no longer under the DMCA and no longer in the 
eyes of the RIAA/MPAA.

My contention is that the term "piracy" - as applied to copyright - 
is not necessarily inaccurate, but it is blunt. Insofar as the term 
"piracy" encourages people to view all kinds of infringing activity 
as the same thing, it also sets the stage for the adoption of 
criminal sanctions for de minimis activity. In sum, I think we 
shouldn't be afraid to apply the term, but recognize that it is 
appropriate only in a narrowly construed context.

Jason
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