DOJ Ups Intellectual Property Enforcement

COMMENTS (8)

• Do they get to carry a gun? I smell a “special unit” type TV show!!!

  Comment by lukeandlaura — Monday April 26, 2010 @ 10:43pm PDT  Reply to this post

• what a bunch of bullshit.

  payoff for campaign contributions, I guess

  Comment by waitwhat — Tuesday April 27, 2010 @ 6:43am PDT  Reply to this post

• Good news. US industries (fashion, entertainment and others) lose a lot of money because of piracy and counterfeiting.

  Comment by sp — Tuesday April 27, 2010 @ 7:51am PDT  Reply to this post

• this is great news!!!

  Comment by szferris — Tuesday April 27, 2010 @ 9:00am PDT  Reply to this post

• It’s obvious that the Obama administration is now paying back his Hollywood cronies by uping IP enforcement. Shakespeare needed no copyrights to protect his work, but then again, ain’t none of these guys Shakespeare. IP law is already overly protective of Hollywood and it doesn’t appear that anyone there is starving. Increased enforcement will only hurt John Q. Public, not American Ingenuity.

  Comment by Anonymous — Tuesday April 27, 2010 @ 9:16am PDT  Reply to this post

• This whole IP ‘debate’ makes me so mad. Shakespeare needed no copyrights to protect his work is not only terrible grammar; it’s such a dumb argument. Shakespeare lived in a time of patronage and live performance before recorded media existed.
  Most people who think the principle of copyright should die can’t seem to get enough intellectual property onto their hardrives. If content creators cannot monetize their ideas, who do you think will invest in making movies? If musicians cannot charge for albums and singles, who but hobbyists will produce music? If authors cannot sell their books, who but the time rich will write? A world where all content is free will be artistically barren. We’re already seeing the effects of copyright theft across the board: studios are only producing safe bet, big budget, 3-D spectacles; record labels are only pushing reality acts with an inbuilt audience, or spectacle artists who might have great personalities but aren’t always the strongest musicians; and publishers have stopped publishing all but the safest of new authors.
  There is no principled, rational argument behind the desire to kill copyright, other than the greed-is-good mentality that I should be able to get everything I want for free. I’ve heard the ‘studios and record labels make too much money’ argument. If that’s the case, let’s steal from the banks, hedge funds and oil companies whose profits far outstrip anything the studios could ever dream of. I’ve heard the ‘they’re big companies, they won’t even feel this’ argument. They may be big companies, but they are feeling it, and copyright theft is driving many decisions that are robbing people of great movies, music and art. No studio wants to invest in drama any more – because secondary video and DVD rentals and sales used to account for a big chunk of the revenue on dramatic films. Now it’s the box office or bust – so we get our fill or blockbusters. But the people hurt most by copyright theft are the people at the bottom of the ladder. Crew, caterers, support services, people and businesses that rely on a steady throughput of production. New writers, directors, actors, editors, composers – the list goes on – who are finding it increasingly hard to break into a shrinking industry.
  People get the art and culture that they deserve. If they are not willing to pay for art, they will get art of low or no quality. In the short term you may get a great movie library for free, but you’d better like what you’ve got because in a few years there won’t be much new stuff coming down the pipe. Filmed entertainment will consist of 30 second YouTube clips of dogs licking their balls, or movies made in the 20th Century. Music will be the latest winner of America’s Got Talent, or music made in the 20th Century.
  The idea that copyright is somehow bad is an argument people use so that they can feel better about the fact that they are stealing. Next time you go into a bank, try and grab some free money – banks make excessive profits, and the whole monetary system is outdated – cavemen didn’t need money. See how far you get with that argument. The reason people feel they can steal intellectual property is because it’s easy, everyone’s doing it, and the chances of getting caught are low. But it’s still stealing. Don’t try to put forward bullshit arguments to rationalize your crime. Put your hands up and say ‘I’m a thief’ – I’d have more respect for you.

  Comment by Fan — Tuesday April 27, 2010 @ 3:20pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Television will kill the movie business.

  Comment by Lumiere — Tuesday April 27, 2010 @ 6:46pm PDT  Reply to this post

• As a music publisher who represents the interests of over 150 composers, I applaud the Department of Justice for this move. It is vital to the careers of artists and to our country’s economy to protect intellectual property. Kudos!
  Scott Meath
  Royalty Free Music Library

  Comment by Scott — Thursday April 29, 2010 @ 9:34am PDT  Reply to this post