UK wants $82,000 for ‘online IP offenses’
p2pnet news view | P2P | Politics:- If you’re not cognizant of the fact that immediately behind every government throne there’s a highly paid corporate entertainment cartel executive, moves by Hollywood and the Big 4 record labels should put you right.
Thanks to limitless financial, legal and political resources, an ever-subservient corporate press and money and power-hungry politicians, the entertainment industry has been able to boost copyright infringement, a minor commercial matter, to a pseudo-crime at a level above and beyond that of rape and murder
In America, a jury of 12 Minnesota’s citizens has decided 24 corporate music industry songs whose copyrights are said to have been infringed, are each worth the mind-boggling amount of $80,000 for a total of $1.92 million.
Now, in Britain, the intellectual property office (IPO) has come up with proposals described by Billboard as ways to “improve copyright licensing” and “increase financial penalties for online infringers”.
Included is a plan to, “match online and physical IP infringement penalties, with a statutory maximum penalty of £50,000 [$82,000] for all IP offenses,” it says, quoting minister of state for intellectual property David Lammy (right) as declaring »»»
We must have the tools in place to tackle serious and organized IP crime. The proposed £50,000 maximum penalty for online and physical infringement sends a clear message to IP criminals. In this online age, IP infringement warrants a serious response. It needs to be stamped out- regardless of whether the offense is online or offline.
In order to modernise and streamline the existing copyright system, I’m proposing a number of changes to the way collecting societies can operate. We should underpin the operation of collecting societies so that customers receive similar services and safeguards they would expect when dealing with a quality utility company.
The current online penalty is £5,000 [about $8,200].
The proposal is part of as part of soon-to-be-former UK communications minister Lord Carter’s Digital Corporate Britain report.
Not only but also, the scheme wants to (read these carefully) »»»
- Remove the infringement risk that currently prevents collecting societies licensing orphan works, as they do not have a mandate from the rights holder;
- Add new powers for government to authorize collecting societies to set up extended licensing schemes, allowing certain societies to act for a group of rights holders even if they are not all members of the society, unless a specific rights holder has opted out; and
- Underpin the operation of collecting societies with a statutory backed framework.
The proposal for, “such a framework to improve the operation of collecting societies would require formal public consultation,” says Billboard.
Formal public consultation?
No need to stay tuned.
total of $1.92 million – Pay Big Music $1,920,000, Jammie told, June 18, 2009
Billboard – U.K. Govt Plans $82,000 Fines For Online IP Offenses, June 17, 2009
Digital Corporate Britain – Digital Britain’s ‘Sue ‘Em All’ bible, June 17, 2009
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June 19th, 2009 at 10:52 am
The more dangerous it is for the public to handle copyright works the less they will. In other words, soon the term ‘copyright’ will become a kiss of obscurity for any independent artist’s work. This means that works are already polarising into two groups: a) works only safe to watch at a distance, at a cinema, on TV, or hear on a radio (as long as no camcorder or other recorder is present), b) works safe to keep in one’s personal collection, share with one’s friends, and build upon and publish. The second group is soon going to dwarf the first group. Before long copyright works will go the way of lead paint, prohibited from the presence of children, banned from the home and workplace without special permit, and considered hazardous material for use only in extreme cases, e.g. by the military.
If it isn’t copyleft, share alike, CC0, or otherwise stipulated as safe for handling by the public then don’t touch it with a barge pole. Until copyright is abolished we’re going to have to be extremely careful to treat copyright works for the toxic waste they are.