NationStates Jolt Archive

I'm wondering what you think of this draft. Is there anything wrong, any changes you would make, etc.?

Global Copyright Act

Advancement of Industry - Tort Reform

I. REALIZING that the ownership rights of artists are often violated

II. DEFINES
(a) copyright as the exclusive right to a creation by their creators
(b) copyrighted work as creation that has not been explicitly released into the public domain by the copyright holder
(c) derivative work as any work that is created including any or all of another copyrighted work
(d) fair use as the creation of a derivative work including only a limited portion or significantly lowered quality reproduction of the work for the purposes of commentary or discussion

III. PROHIBITS
(a) the sale, duplication, transfer, or reproduction of any copyrighted work by any civilian or corporation without the express written permission of its creators
(b) the creation of any derivative work by any civilian or corporation without the express written permission of the copyright holders except when it constitues fair use

IV. MANDATES
(a) that any civilian or corporation possessing a legally purchased physical copy of a copyrighted work be allowed to resell that same legally purchased physical copy of the work
(b) that any civilian or corporation posessing a legally purchased copy of any copyrighted work be allowed to make a single non-transferable copy for backup or archival purposes only
(c) that, upon reselling a legally purchased physical copy of a work, the backup copy, if any was made, be destroyed
(d) that any act prohibited under Article III, Section A, be considered a statutory offense and that the copyright holder be given a right to civil litigation.

I'm not copyright expert, so I'll leave that to other people to clear up. However, what I can see is that you don't address how long it is before Copyright expires.

This is not tort reform!!!!!!!!

This is not tort reform!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I wasn't too sure about that. What do you think it is?

Also, added at the end:

IV. REQUIRES
...
(e) that copyright expire after a term of 25 years, after which the work will be released into the public domain

FORBIDS all copyright extensions of any type

Much as I like that forbiddance myself, it's going to be a big vote-loser.

Do you think I should allow copyright extensions? How many/how long? Or should I just say it's up to the nations?

There's no mechanism for copyright extension anyway, so I don't see the need.

I don't think born copyright is realistic, for an organization the size of the WA. Better to have a registration system.

So do you think the proposal should only apply to registered copyright? Then registration would have to be maintained by ANOTHER WA committee..

Is this really a matter for the World Assembly? Why can't we allow individual nations to deal with this as they deem fit?

I believed that the World Assembly was mainly designed for maintaining international security and providing some basic human rights to the population of its members; and I'm not sure this proposition falls into either category.

I don't have any objection to any specific part of this draft (except it's definitely not tort law!), but the whole thing just seems to be an attempt to impose a particular aspect of one partisan idea of commercial law onto a wide range of nations. Although our nation already possesses similar copyright laws, and this would have little effect on us, I'd have to object based on the grounds of this being an imposition of sovereignty for a relatively minor matter.

I believe that copyright needs to be international to be truly effective.

I. REALIZING that the ownership rights of artists are often violated

Hmm... This could be worded better, to remove the requests for verification of the claim.

II. DEFINES
(a) copyright as the exclusive right to a creation by their creators
(b) copyrighted work as creation that has not been explicitly released into the public domain by the copyright holder
(c) derivative work as any work that is created including any or all of another copyrighted work
(d) fair use as the creation of a derivative work including only a limited portion or significantly lowered quality reproduction of the work for the purposes of commentary or discussion

What about satire?

III. PROHIBITS
(a) the sale, duplication, transfer, or reproduction of any copyrighted work by any civilian or corporation without the express written permission of its creators
(b) the creation of any derivative work by any civilian or corporation without the express written permission of the copyright holders except when it constitues fair use

This would limit the use of satire and a few other forms of artistic expression too much for our liking.

IV. MANDATES
(a) that any civilian or corporation possessing a legally purchased physical copy of a copyrighted work be allowed to resell that same legally purchased physical copy of the work
(b) that any civilian or corporation posessing a legally purchased copy of any copyrighted work be allowed to make a single non-transferable copy for backup or archival purposes only
(c) that, upon reselling a legally purchased physical copy of a work, the backup copy, if any was made, be destroyed
(d) that any act prohibited under Article III, Section A, be considered a statutory offense and that the copyright holder be given a right to civil litigation.
(e) that copyright expire after a term of 25 years, after which the work will be released into the public domain

FORBIDS all copyright extensions of any type

Opposed. 25 years isn't that long by human lifespans and this means that an artist can find their work, even if it is still selling well, suddenly available to everyone to do with as they please within the artist's own lifetime.

International, yes, but that does not necessarily mean it's a matter for the World Assembly. The two main ideals of the World Assembly are:

* Providing basic human rights to all citizens of World Assembly members.
* Maintaining International Security.

If this were to be proposed in an alternative international body, such as the World Trade Organisation, we would be (and will be) in full support of it. The difficulty remains, however, that considering that there are issues that currently exist which relate much more directly to basic human rights and international security (e.g. global warming, terrorism, international disputes, etc.) that have not been sufficiently addressed, should we really be using the World Assembly's time and resources to deal with an issue such as this, which could be (and is) adequately dealt with through other international bodies?

(e) that copyright expire after a term of 75 years, after which the work will be released into the public domain

No extensions.

We're still opposed, as it does not address the issue of people who could live significantly longer than that.

Frankly, I'd be opposed to a period that long. I'd settle for expiring after "a term of 25 years or the death of the creator, whichever is later".

The People of Sasquatchewain see a few issues regarding this proposition.

For one, what are the systems in place regarding governmental takeovers? Should a disease sweep through a nation and a national pharmaceutical company come up with a cure, but for a steep price, the government might find it in the people's best interest to break standard copyright laws, publish the formula and therefore severely decrease the price (or even subsidize the production to the extent that it is free to the public).

As well, what if the nation simply has no copyright system, since any and all production, research and development is all the auspices of the government?

The two main ideals of the World Assembly are:

* Providing basic human rights to all citizens of World Assembly members.
* Maintaining International Security.You seem to have the WA confused with some other international assembly.

The People of Sasquatchewain see a few issues regarding this proposition.

For one, what are the systems in place regarding governmental takeovers? Should a disease sweep through a nation and a national pharmaceutical company come up with a cure, but for a steep price, the government might find it in the people's best interest to break standard copyright laws, publish the formula and therefore severely decrease the price (or even subsidize the production to the extent that it is free to the public).

As well, what if the nation simply has no copyright system, since any and all production, research and development is all the auspices of the government?

Under this proposal, copyright would not apply to national governments, only civilians and corporations.

Under this proposal, copyright would not apply to national governments, only civilians and corporations.

Ew. Well that's a problem right there.

Alright.

I replaced "civilian or corporation" with "civilian, corporations, or government agencies"

And I added:
V. PERMITS government agencies to override copyright in cases which it is required to prevent loss of life

Under this proposal, copyright would not apply to national governments, only civilians and corporations.

Which is exactly our qualm with it. Some form of legislation should be in place regarding how and when a government has the right to take over a copyright.

I hope you will not force to leave the WA. Our nation doesn't recognize copyrights, we only use copyleft. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyleft
Our nation gives free education to all and also gives every citizen a basic income. We do not recognize owning ideas. We do respect copyrights from other nations, we are not pirates, if it concerns commercial goods. But in the scientific field we do not recognize copyrights. The same is when it comes to medicines.
I hope this proposal will give space for our ideas.

We wish you success in finding a solution. At the moment we are too much occupied in other activities, otherwise we would try to find solutions that could satisfy us all.

Regards

In my country, it is illegal to profit from another's intellectual property without their written permission. However, this is not the case in many other nations, which has already caused an outrage with my country's many talented artists.

We support this resolution, as it would put creators' minds at ease. In addition, it would help our crippled economy, as many other WA countries are currently legally permitted to make and sell pirated copies of Generica's chief exports!

Currently, I have this version:

Global Copyright Act

Free Trade - significant

I. REALIZING that the ownership rights of artists are often violated

II. DEFINES
(a) copyright as the exclusive right to a creation by their creators
(b) copyrighted work as creation that has not been explicitly released into the public domain by the copyright holder
(c) derivative work as any work that is created including any or all of another copyrighted work
(d) fair use as the creation of a derivative work including only a limited portion or significantly lowered quality reproduction of the work for the purposes of commentary or discussion
(e) registered copyrighted work as a

III. PROHIBITS
(a) the sale, duplication, transfer, or reproduction of any copyrighted work by any civilian, corporation, or government agency without the express written permission of its creators
(b) the creation of any derivative work by any civilian, corporation, or government agency without the express written permission of the copyright holders except when it constitues fair use

IV. REQUIRES
(a) that any civilian, corporation, or government agency possessing a legally purchased physical copy of a copyrighted work be allowed to resell that same legally purchased physical copy of the work
(b) that any civilian, corporation, or government agency posessing a legally purchased copy of any copyrighted work be allowed to make a single non-transferable copy for backup or archival purposes only
(c) that, upon reselling a legally purchased physical copy of a work, the backup copy, if any was made, be destroyed
(d) that any act prohibited under Article III, Section A, be considered a statutory offense and that the copyright holder be given a right to civil litigation.
(e) that copyright expire after a term of 75 years, after which the work will be released into the public domain

V. PERMITS government agencies to override copyright in cases which it is required to prevent loss of life

I know this has been brought up before, but what about the nations that do not recognize copyrights? Rutianas has no concept of copyrights. This legislation would, in effect, give any one of our citizens the right to claim said copyright and cause a breakdown of our society.

We will, of course, be opposed as long as the only override for governments is for loss of life. Economic stability should also be an exception.

Paula Jenner - Rutianas Ambassador

II (e) seems to end a bit abruptly.

I am sorry, but in the revised version I do not see anything that responds to copyleft.
I hope I will not have to start campaigning against this.

regards, Cocoamok

Vindetta's Permanent Delegation at the World Assembly

We completely repeal this resolution, copyright is a limination to knowledge and must not be aproved as international law.

Vindetta's Permanent Delegation at the World Assembly

We completely repeal this resolution, copyright is a limination to knowledge and must not be aproved as international law.

How does one repeal something that hasn't yet been submitted, garnered enough approvals to come up for vote, been voted on and passed?

Bob Flibble
WA Representative

Permanent Delegation of the People's Republic of Vindetta at the World Assembly

We mean we cannot agree in any sense with such resolution, we are for the archivement of the text.

Global Copyright Act

Free Trade - significant

I. REALIZING that the ownership rights of artists are often violated

II. DEFINES
(a) copyright as the exclusive right to a creation by their creators
(b) copyrighted work as creation that has not been explicitly released into the public domain by the copyright holder
(c) derivative work as any work that is created including any or all of another copyrighted work
(d) fair use as the creation of a derivative work including only a limited portion or significantly lowered quality reproduction of the work for the purposes of commentary or discussion
(e) registered copyrighted work as a copyrighted work that has been certified as a copyright by the government of the nation in which the work was created

III. PROHIBITS
(a) the sale, duplication, transfer, or reproduction of any copyrighted work by any civilian, corporation, or government agency without the express written permission of its creators
(b) the creation of any derivative work by any civilian, corporation, or government agency without the express written permission of the copyright holders except when it constitues fair use

IV. REQUIRES
(a) that any civilian, corporation, or government agency possessing a legally purchased physical copy of a copyrighted work be allowed to resell that same legally purchased physical copy of the work
(b) that any civilian, corporation, or government agency posessing a legally purchased copy of any copyrighted work be allowed to make a single non-transferable copy for backup or archival purposes only
(c) that, upon reselling a legally purchased physical copy of a work, the backup copy, if any was made, be destroyed
(d) that any act prohibited under Article III, Section A, be considered a statutory offense and that the copyright holder be given a right to civil litigation.
(e) that copyright expire after a term of 75 years, after which the work will be released into the public domain

V. PERMITS government agencies to override copyright in cases which it is required to prevent loss of life

Please approve this proposal on the WA proposal page (http://nationstates.net/page=UN_proposal1/match=copyright).

One thread is plenty. Merged. Please edit changes into your first post rather than create a new thread.

Ack. I should have spotted this before, but Free Trade? Really?

I'm still opposed to the ludicrous duration, in any case.

I really don't like the idea of the WA tackling this topic, but that's partially because I'm afraid he will show up.http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w166/bak42/paranoid.gif

Bob Flibble
WA Representative