NationStates Jolt Archive

The proposal up for debate:


Description: The Free Republic of Lamoni proposes that free music file sharing shall be legal, provided that the following conditions are met:

1. The artist signs a legal document stating that the mentioned recording CAN be used for file sharing,

2. That a reputable program or website be used for the purpose of the file sharing itself,

and

3. That an oversight agency be formed to regulate the file sharing.

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Penalties for ILLEGAL file sharing that does not affect this proposal shall remain the same. This shall allow the public to share songs for free, as well as potentially allowing higher sales of the artist's music.

Respectfully submitted,
The Free Republic of Lamoni
UN Delegate for B5Tech

Does this really do anything? [OOC] In real life, free file sharing's already legal if the artist agrees to waive copyright. I would assume most NS nations' copyright systems would work in a similar fashion. And why do you need an oversight agency to regulate file-sharing if the artist's agreed to share that file?

First, it is not *conclusively* known if the various nation's copyright laws work that way.

Second, the oversight is to make certain that things *stay* legal.

Hmm. We're still not really convinced of the usefulness of this.
First off, copyright law is something of a grey area at the moment. The Universal Copyright/Patent Law resolution stated that all nations were to have the same copyright law, but failed to specify what it was.
So sorry, my previous post was in error when it referred to "most NS nations' copyright systems." But until we sort out whether the UN copyright system already allows artists to give stuff away for free (and why wouldn't it?), your suggestion is moot.
Second, we don't really understand this concern about "reputable programs or websites". Why shouldn't people share files however they like?
Third, if the oversight body is to make sure that file-sharing stays legal, then it's not really regulating legal file-sharing. It's actually policing *illegal* file-sharing, which is quite another matter.