p2pnet - rss feed: P2p file sharing is legal, says France
p2p news / p2pnet: In a major upset to the entertainment cartels which have been trying to sue people into buying ‘product,’ France has become the first country in the world to, “propose the legalization of P2P downloading,” as the Association of Audionautes sums it up.
“The French Parliament voted last night to allow free sharing of music and movies on the Internet, setting up a conflict with both the French government and with media companies,” says Bloomberg News.
“If the amendment survives, France would be the first country to legalize so called peer-to-peer downloading, said Jean-Baptiste Soufron, legal counsel to the Association of Audionautes, a French group that defends people accused of improperly sharing music files.
“The law would be a blow to media companies that increasingly use the courts worldwide to sue people for downloading or sharing music and movie files.”
The government can overturn the amendment, either by re-opening debate or if the Senate votes it down when the bill moves to the upper house. French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres has asked that parliament re-open debate on the amendment today, says Bloomberg, quoting Agence France Presse.
Audionautes, founded by founded by French high-school and college students, says if the amendment goes through, the French Code of Intellectual Property will feature article L-122-5 stating authors won’t be able to stop the online dissemination of their works in any format provided downloads are meant for private use only; and, there’s no direct or indirect commercial exploitation.
Thes provisions were proposed by Audionautes and the Artist-Public Alliance.
Definitely stay tuned.
(Thanks to Andre, Andre, Guillaume and all the others ….)
Also See:
Audionautes - FRANCE IS THE FIRST COUNTRY TO PROPOSE THE LEGALIZATION OF P2P DOWNLOADING, December 22, 2005
Bloomberg News - French Parliament Votes to Allow Web File Sharing, December 22, 2005
December 22nd, 2005 at 2:26 pm
Too bad the Governement called for a 2nd vote on this issue, calling the most majors friendly “representatives” for this 2nd vote. In other words, it won’t be legalized…
…But it’s anyway a milestone that a parliament has for the first time in history, not only debated but also adopted a law going in the direction of EFF’s P2P License, and even if it won’t pass now, this gives some serious arguments to those who fight for this (many associations in France do) , and even if it will probably not pass now, it will in a near future… provided the front for this license keeps united and strong.
Keep on fighting, brothers !
December 22nd, 2005 at 2:35 pm
well france may do something right for a change, france get’s 1 THAT A BOY
December 22nd, 2005 at 2:48 pm
Not for a long time. The governement decided to do everything it can to overturn this. And it can do it.
The only way to keep this law alive are massive demonstrations. Now the subject has made it to the mainstream media thanks to this vote, we have chances to mobilize.
Fighting days ahead for french filesharers. Each generation has it’s political fight in France. Legalisation of filesharing of copyrighted works will be the one of our generation.
December 22nd, 2005 at 3:52 pm
I beleive that file sharing is legal in Spain, if there is no profit.
Even outright copying and selling for profit will only result in a slap of the wrist to the infringer.
December 22nd, 2005 at 4:13 pm
Indeed Spain is seen from France as an internet freedom country.
Will we become as free as Spain ? Even if the 1st vote means yes, the governement will probably overturn it.
French internet rights groups like the ODEBI league (www.odebi.org) already ask for the demission of the french ministry of culture for it’s effort to overturn a parliementary vote.
December 22nd, 2005 at 6:24 pm
in spain too is legal the p2p if is for copy private and not for sale, there are sentences of judges.
December 22nd, 2005 at 8:14 pm
holy crap, you mean there is a country where murderers actually get more time than a file sharer???? Somebody call the jedi!!! We got a job for him.
December 22nd, 2005 at 9:05 pm
à propos
December 22nd, 2005 at 9:24 pm
I’ve mailed two of our representatives today (Francois Bayrou and Jean Dionis du Séjour) explaining them that, altough I’m a songwriter & future producer (will launch my company in January), but also a former IT student :
- Why a DMCA alike legislation won’t solve the P2P problem the majors are facing (just see how it “solved” the problem in the USA)
- Why, as repression seems to be non working, the only possible options are or the “Global license” (+- the EFF license project) or a complete deregulation, in other words, that being against this project means even less money for the rightholders.
I also posted several posts in Christian Vanneste (The governement’s “rapporteur” of this law) ’s blog (vanneste.over-blog.org)
I feel I did my job (no, all french men are not Weasels!). Now, freedom lovers in France, follow my exemple and mail your representatives. Move on !
December 23rd, 2005 at 12:28 am
Fantastic. France is too big of a market for hollywood and other IP dealers to ignore, so instead of suing their customers into submission they might actually have to come up with a way to successfully market product in a p2p environment. When they do, maybe some of it will spill over here to the US, and they will stop demanding that file sharers get more time in prison then rapists. I can dream
Great job anyways guys, Its refreshing to see that there are still groups of people in the world who are still willing to fight hard even for the smaller issues. Even if you don’t get it passed this time, its still a great victory and historic step in the right direction.
December 23rd, 2005 at 3:43 pm
“Even if you don’t get it passed this time, its still a great victory and historic step in the right direction.”
Right. The law will probably be blocked by the senate, and the original project - a super-DMCA + Induce act ! - will become the law.
…A law that will give the same results than the DMCA gives to the entertainment cartel in the US : None !
Once they’ll have noticed this - within 3 or 4 years I think - They will remember that, a night before christmas 2005, the right solution was found…
December 23rd, 2005 at 3:50 pm
lol .
1 to France , 0 to America.
December 23rd, 2005 at 10:24 pm
As this law is fought with a rare violence by the cartels and the governement and will be turned back, soon we’ll have :
0 to France, 0 to America, 0 to the internet
December 27th, 2005 at 12:56 am
Good for the French . They are finally doing something worthwhile. IF I can loan my friend my cd. and he can burn a copy of it what is the difference in sharing online. Oh yeah ! Its easier.Duh.