Worth a skim by most of us, possible scarey Copyright loopholes (might be) coming up for the USA.......

LINK

lucky that 90% of the world is not USA ;}

Un-lucky that Renderosity is 100% IN the USA...so this might affect any image uploaded to Renderosity.

Might.

What a great way to kill sites like Renderosity. :(

yes but we are all affected if we post work on this site...it can be stolen in the usa or anywhere else. this has MAJOR implications to all artists across the world. what a nightmare.

Sigh! You don't need lawyers or attornees.....you need a shotgun!

It's too horrible to happen/pass. People won't let it happen....
(fingers crossed)

As always there are no limits to human stupidity in cases like this eh?

Apparently, never.

"Only two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe" (albert einstein).

Basically the proposed change is saying that it's ok to steal something left unattended and it's the victim's fault for leaving it unattended.

Perfect. I'm out USA, but posting here. It's very easy for me. If the proposal becomes in law, I'll delete my entire gallery and close it

Guess i´ll bring back my maximized semi-transparent tags all over the images. Either that or post images in much smaller resolutions.
Both of these options would make any image pointless or hopeless to use for printing. 

Sad, but most likely necessary in the end.

Can´t help beeing a little curious though. If this law comes through, it will probably kill pretty much all online galleries. Where would the thiefes steal images after that?
Wouldn´t be that surprised to see the next idiotic law allowing them to break into peoples homes, stealing their computers...

This must be being promoted by the same CA rep who is trying to outlaw spanking....

well, my gallery is gone from here, so I'm ahead of the game :)

**If this law comes through, it will probably kill pretty much all online galleries.

**Exactly. Which is why one way or another, it just won't happen, imo.. Too many people online showing artwork off, for that B.S. to take place.

Replacing all Congressman and the Senators might go a long way toward stoping this kind of nonsense. Just a thought. Not that anyone would ever do that...

But they should...

Amen to the Hungarian!

We need a simple panel of Common Sense. "Does it make common sense?"...."Do the people want/need it?"...."Make it so"......"Next!"

We need to get the politics out of politicians, imho. There are some good ones out there...but they sometimes seem to be so few and far between......

I like one of the motto's I heard that Google uses (in a documentary I was watching)

"Don't be evil"

Fairly encompassing, I would say, lol.

I seem to remember something about software that creates  a 'digital watermark', code that's put in the picture itself, that can be retreived by the artist to prove it was theirs. Some people hide pictures within pictures (alas, from the article I read, not a subject we'd go into here, it violates TOS, not to mention every moral and legal code) as a way of using the software.

I remember a case a while back where someone stole code from one package to create another package. The lawyers and experts had it scanned, and the original company was smart enough to include a comment with their company's name in it.

Might be something worth looking into.

Quote -
We need a simple panel of Common Sense. "Does it make common sense?"...."Do the people want/need it?"...."Make it so"......"Next!"

Ahh...there's the basic problem my friend. There is nothing 'common" about common sense since it seems to be sadly lacking in quite a large pecentage of the populace.

Yup, lol.

Welcome to China. Ooops that is where there already is no resect for copyrights. When copyright laws are ruined only assholes get to be rich because when you can't profit from ideas, there will always be those who will always profit from exploiting others.

Anyways I think I'll drink another brandy.

the internet is public domain.
Hey..I have an idea..Let's privatize it !!!!

Oh..wait a minute...they're trying to do that too, aren't they.

At first, I had to giggle when I read about this, because, being strictly a hobbyist, the thought of anyone paying actual MONEY for anything I have created never even occurred to me. Then I realized that many people who post here are actually professional artists and this has to scare the **** out of them. But, if someone steals an image of a Bryce pic you created and tries to pass it off as theirs, surely the fact that you have the original Bryce format file on your computer would prove beyond a doubt that you are the artist. Does that makes sense?

makes sense, but will you even know someone is selling your work?
doubtful

Quote - makes sense, but will you even know someone is selling your work?
doubtful

Perhaps never. But if now someone steals your artwork form an american site, laws protect you. Theoretically, but they protect you. And in spite of it, people steal art

If american laws don't protect you, this will be a carnage. Russian and chinese and romanian sites (I write only the most usual ripper sites) will have a green card, a blank check, a fully open door to enter in an art site and take all. And if you go to the administrators of that site and you protest, they will answer: 'this is no steal, tovarich. American law is with me, da'

You want to stop this kind of legislation, best bet is to get on talk radio and get the word out.  I remember when some dingle-fritz in the senate decided to put some downright stupid bill forward or a rider on something popular, Sean Hannity got wind of it, and gave out the direct line to the US senate's switchboard.  Apparently the volume of calls from people angry about the bill caused the whole switchboard to fry for a day or two, and even the phones in the senate "cloakroom" which is where the behind the scenes wheeling and dealing goes on.  You may not agree with their politics on talk radio (call Alan Colmes' show if you have to, he has more listeners than Air America at least), but you can't deny they can get the word out and put millions of people in motion if they get behind you.  Sometimes it's more effective to bypass traditional channels, and go after them where it hurts, interrupting them at bar time.

BTW, for those who don't believe that it will happen, don't forget the &@$(&*!!! McCain/Feingold law, and  that violates the 1st amendment!  Everyone assumed it would get voted down.  Then they assumed the white house would veto it.  Then they assumed it would be found unconstitutional.  And sure as congressman lies, it became law because people didn't speak up loud enough and get enough grass roots outrage a rolling to break through the beltway cluster of lobbyists.  

So, if you are that concerned about it, start getting it out into talk radio, the blog-o-sphere and anywhere else you can get the issue in front of people's eyes.

hands off the soapbox to the next person<

mdb

Hi. I posted this over in the Copyright forum, but I thought that you might like to see it as well. It has been a long time since I have read through the Canadian Copyright law (five years) and eight for the U.S.A Copyright law. I'm a library tech in Canada and we needed to be well versed in copyright law. You also must remember that most of the major countries have also signed international copyright agreements to protect international interests. I think that if the U.S. passed such a law there would be severe backlash from the international community. I am going to to start researching Canada, U.S. and international copyright law tomorrow and will try and post my findings when I can. While I think I only have one image on Renderosity (and it's not really worth stealing). As for work that fall in to Public Domain, at least in Canada works that fall into PUblic Domain are: 1) Works, in which 50-75 years have passed since the the original author has passed away. 2) Works that have been around since before Copyright laws have come into place (for example the Works of William Shakespeare, or Johnathan Swift, along with most music written before the 1800s. This does not include works that present the original conent in a new performance. So music by Mozart would be in the public domain, but, the London Symphony Orchestra recording of Motzart's opera the Magic Flute would be protected under copyright laws. There are laws in Canada that promote "fair use" execptions. Several involve Education, but I will have to look up what these exceptions are as I don't remember. More to follow. Sincerely, David Lein

Hi.  I just wanted to post an update.  I emailed several questions to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), asking how Canadian works are protected in foreign countries and also provided links to the Orphan Works Act, asking how this would affect Canadians.  I should be receiving a reply in about 2 business days (By the 14th at the latest).

I also did a little research on international copyright and found the Berne Convention, which both Canada and the United States, along with a huge list of other nations (with a few exceptions--such as Taiwan) are members.  I did try to read through some of the articles that make up the Berne Convention, but have found it very confusing.  After lunch I will try and continue my search and post my findings online for all to see, although I think that most of my questions will be answered by CIPO.
Sincerely, 

David Lein

We need a new amendment to the constitution:    When an immoral, unethical and illogical law is passed, those lawmakers need to face criminal charges.

There seems to be too many lawyers in congress. It's like they pass a law with the intent to generate business/income for the courts.