I know exactly how those girls feel. They just want to show off to their friends and say “I was there” and maybe 300-400 times a day sneak a peak at their smart phones to relive the experience of something great until they can make their way back into the theater again with like minded souls. I believe they committed no crime and perhaps it was a “mob mentality”, a case of “Everyone else is doing it so why can’t I?”.
I myself have been victim of this ridiculous copyright law when trying to document my experiences in a perfectly legal albeit a little damp adult themed theater to merely share with others and dare I say, rub it in their face.

For those who actually do believe this is stealing (I know you’re in the minority here but I’m honestly curious), let’s frame it a slightly different way. I’d like to know where the line is.

I don’t know who this Beaver kid is, but I do read a book series with a pretty fanatical following. Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series is the one I’m talking about. There are numerous forums and web pages that have snippets of the book and chapter summaries and all sorts of goodies. Now, I’d like to know where the line for legality is.

Scenario 1: I have an eidetic memory. I discuss the book with another fan in person and quote entire sections of it. Other people overhear us and gather while we wax philosophical over the books with me sometimes quoting pages and passages. Illegal?

Scenario 2: I break out my Nook with a legally obtained copy of the book on it with a friend while we’re discussing it. We read a few chapters together. Does this count as public performance?

Scenario 3: Same as scenario 1, except this time in an online forum that requires registration to read instead of in public.

Scenario 4: Scan and OCR the book that I own for personal use to shift it to my ebook reader.

Several of these have some elements that correspond to what actually happened here. The information is a snippet of the whole, and it’s being discussed. Which one is illegal, and why is the line where it is?

@56 (“Tell me, which copyright laws do you break when you snap your own photographs?”)

I don’t know but it reminds me of this article…

“There is, however, another message about copyright in the National Portrait Gallery: it is implicit in the “No Photography” signs prominently displayed throughout its rooms, including one by the entrance to the Pop Art Portraits exhibition.

These signs are not intended to protect the works from the depredations of camera flashes (otherwise they would read “No Flash Photography”). No, the ban on pictures is meant to safeguard the copyright of the works hung on the walls – a fact that every member of staff I asked instantly confirmed.”

Full article – Warhol is turning in his grave