[Upd-discuss] IP Question

[Rob Myers]

On 12 Aug 2005, at 19:11, maitri venkat-ramani wrote:

> "X buys software that is under copyright, duplicates it, and hands out
> copies to all of her friends.  Y xeroxes a book by her favorite author
> and gives out copies.  Which of them is violating copyright laws?"
>
> I said that it was just X who was violating copyright.  Couldn't the
> author of Y's book technically be in the public domain or under a CC
> license?  The quiz said I was wrong; both have violated copyright law.
> I disagree; the question was not clear enough.
>
> What do you think?

Under copyright law, both are violations. Bulk copying for friends  
isn't fair use. The friends may like the work and buy a copy each,  
but it is still copyright violation.

Your answer regarding books is correct. And the software could be  
under a Free Software license, so it could also be OK to give a copy  
to your friends, even if it is under copyright.

On the face of it the fact that the quiz couldn't handle your answer  
is quite funny; it show show out of touch the people asking the  
question are. But it also shows how out of touch they want the people  
taking the quiz to be, which isn't funny at all.

- Rob.