EU Pirate Party Offered Copyright Platform - ExtraTorrent.cc The World's Largest BitTorrent System

Christian Engstrom, the Pirate Party MEP, with its founder Rick Falkvinge, are trying to offer a better alternative to ACTA treaty by releasing The Case For Copyright Reform, which is a 107-page e-Book explaining the Party’s vision for reconciling copyright protection with online sharing.

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The International Pirate Party appeared in Sweden 6 years ago and has decided to take the bull by the horns, offering the clearest and detailed statement on the way their outfit is going to act on the problem of digital piracy.

First of all, their proposal highlighted that the growth of file-sharing can’t be stopped without monitoring private communication. This means that such strategy would violate basic human rights. The Pirate Party points out that they don’t want to abolish copyright. Albeit copyright management systems would be banned under their suggestion, copyright would still prevent people from making money on someone else’s works. Non-profit copying and use is suggested to be made absolutely legal. In order and to make things clear on the meaning of copyright, the Party agreed that Internet users could once copy a poem or a cassette and send it to friends without infringing the law.

Moreover, in order to clarify the boundaries for sharing, the Pirate Party offered setting explicit guidelines for legitimate audio and visual sampling, such as the kinds of established legitimate quotation rights for text. Copyright protection is suggested to be cut from 70 to 20 years since the time of publication. In addition, these copyrights should be renewed 5 years after publication in order to “allow orphaned works quick entry back into the public domain”.

The Party’s proposal also details on how current copyright legislation meddles with technological and creative progress, let alone the freedom of private communication and due process. They also offered evidence from Norway and Sweden to prove that musicians are still able to get revenue in a world where their works can be copied without restrictions, by shifting to other revenue sources.

The hopes are that this suggestion will help some German intellectuals change their minds, as they have reportedly turned against the online party recently.

By:
SaM
May 8th,2012

Posted by:

SaM

Date: Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

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Comments (2) (please add your comment »)

posted by
IchiNoburo
(2012-05-08 16:59:35)

I think it's a good idea they have made, copyright should remain. Non-profit copying will continue always but how is it so bad if the people that copy (download online), they also go buy CDs, DVDs of the original product afterwards anyways? (provided that the music, movie was good).

posted by
chazzo125
(2012-05-09 14:42:32)

The very first step is to stop criminalizing people who share files. There is nothing more natural than people sharing songs or poems they like with their immediate friends and family. Of course going out into the street and selling copies to strangers is a different situation.

Next musicians need to be kept informed about alternative ways of generating income. Gigs and live performances remain by the far biggest source of income for established bands and artists.

Then the music companies themselves need to accept that major changes have occurred in their traditional business models and they need to move on to selling music by digital download, and ensure that such downloads are the highest quality in loss-less format eg 320 kps Mp3 downloads, and to accept that some musicians will market themselves via the Internet bypassing the music companies.

Next the music and film companies need to stop acting as if they were gods ruling the planet, and stop persuing ordinary internet users, and crack down instead on the people making mega-bucks out of copyright theft, but at same time protecting the rights and data of legitimate users.

Finally there needs to be some sort of International Protection for individual Rights to Privacy and a private life, Human Rights and Protection for individuals against meaningless actions by huge corporations.