Dude Downloads $5 Million of Stolen Software to 1TB Hard Drive for Art Exhibit

Okay well there are several issues to be addressed in your logic.

First of all, COPYRIGHT is what it says. It is the law that defines who has the RIGHT to make a COPY, or copies, of a work and thereby potentially profit from the sale or distribution of those copies. Your didactic memory doesn’t get you around copyright law once you transfer the “book” from memory to paper, just as selling your “Backup” copy of a cd on ebay is a no-no.

When you say “Paraphrase” you immediately get around the concept of Copyright as long as you paraphrase literally everything. I’ve seen books turned down by publishers because of a single paragraph in a 700 page book that was too similar to something else.

Where you run afoul of the law with software is in the process of decompiling the code. EVERY piece of software comes with a license agreement that clearly states that your rights to use the software are immediately revoked upon any attempt to decompile the code. You never really OWN the code or the program, you have only purchased the right to make a single copy (depending on the license) on a single computer. Think of it like renting the neighbor’s mule. If you decompile Daisy to see how she works .... well you’ve just killed Daisy and you didn’t purchase that right when you rented her.

You are exactly right about there being many different ways to get to the same spreadsheet. You cannot copyright an idea, for that you need a patent. But the code that makes the software run is on file with the copyright office and if you suspect someone has “decompiled Daisy” you can verify your ownership and force them to STOP and rewrite their own code. Just take a look at APPLE and their IPhone issues in Europe.

“I’ve always felt that all art is derivative and there is nothing new under the sun, check your TV schedule for empirical proof!” (Now who said that? Hmmmm )

The key in the above is “Derivative.” I have to wonder what hoops the latest Transformer’s movie had to jump through that allowed them to have Leonard Nemoy say “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one!” Believe me they paid handsomely!! Or got a release from the company that owns the rights to that particular Star Trek movie.

Great Handle by the way, just don’t go selling yourself as a Middle Earth Wizard or you may run afoul of . . . copyright law simply by adopting the name!

Every software company already “Licenses” their software. You have NEVER owned the code. EVER. (Unless you are a software developer and specifically bought the code. See RIM vs Blackberry) Buying software is a misnomer. You are purchasing a single (usually) license for the right to make a single copy of the software onto your hard drive. Whether you actually ever use the program is of no interest to the software company other than the manner in which your use affects their support staff.

Copyright is all about the RIGHT to COPY. Whether or not this “artist” ever used any of the programs he’s copied onto the harddrive . . . well there, I’ve already said it. He made copies onto his hard drive without purchasing the license to do so. He is in violation of copyright. Now, if that same “artist” has ever purchased any of the software that he has made illegal copies of he/she is ALSO in violation of the software companies software license agreement which is a whole other ball of wax!

That being said, the courts have decided that in order to pursue a copyright violation, the owner has to show that the violator KNEW they didn’t have the right AND that the act of copying caused “significant” monetary damages.

Download and use a single piece of Microsnot software and you’re probably not gonna get arrested (probably). However download everything Micorsnot sells and you’re into Grand Theft territory and THAT could mean trouble. Remember how the music industry started enforcing their copyrights. Go after the big downloaders and the distributors. Easy to prove monetary damages there! AND easy to scare soccer mom’s with kids that downloaded.

You’ll have to elaborate on “Insane lawsuits” for me. If it’s insane for ordinary companies to protect their rights by going after the disgusting people that violate their copyrights, it must be insane to chase down and arrest that guy that broke into your neighbor’s house and stole their diamond jewelry. Both actions are illegal and enforceable by law.

(Please note, I use your term “ordinary” and my term “disgusting” solely to point out the bias that seems to tilt one direction in your post not because I hold either point of view personally.)

IMHO its not about protest as much as it’s about anarchy.

Believe me if someone stole his precious hard drive he’d be ticked off and demanding justice!! Just because something is easy to steal . . . . well it still ain’t right!

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