Copy protection (from NTK 2001-09-21)

[Jeremy Barker]

Owen Blacker wrote:

>
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> It just occurred to me, I take it that obstructing our Fair Use is in no
> way illegal in GB then?  :(
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Danny O'Brien [mailto:danny@spesh.com]
> > Sent: Friday, September 21, 2001 5:14 PM
> > To: NTK now
> > Subject: NTK now, 2001-09-21
> >
> >                     >> HARD NEWS <<
> >                   smoothed, criminal
> >
> > MICHAEL JACKSON's new single seems likely to "Rock Your
> > World" in more ways than one, as promotional copies sent out
> > by Sony appear to be the first examples spotted "in the
> > wild" of audio CDs which won't play in PC CD-ROM drives.
> > "When loaded into the CD drive, the disc spun continuously
> > as though the drive was trying to access the TOC of a blank
> > or corrupted CDR", reports our correspondent, a producer and
> > sound engineer, adding: "None of our stand-alone
> > professional or domestic CD players had a problem with it".
> > Of course, this is exactly what Macrovision's SafeAudio (or
> > similar copy-protection systems) are intended to do: insert
> > "bad" error-correction codes, which audio CD players can
> > interpolate around, but higher-precision CD-ROM drives
> > don't, effectively preventing you from ripping (or listening
> > to) any tracks on your PC. The UK's Campaign for Digital
> > Rights (formerly the "Free Dmitry Sklyarov" guys) are still
> > planning a leafleting campaign alerting shoppers to this
> > ingenious reduction of their music's self-healing properties
> > (making CDs more susceptible to scratches or other damage) -
> > though perhaps an "explicit lyrics"-style labelling system
> > wouldn't go amiss either, for those of us who just don't own
> > a non-CD-ROM CD player.
> > http://uazu.net/cd/
> >           - like anyone with a PC is still buying CDs anyway
> > http://www.bbspot.com/News/2001/08/encrypt.html
> >    - apparently not as good as Jacko's earlier, audible work
> >
> >                      NEED TO KNOW
> > THEY STOLE OUR REVOLUTION. NOW WE'RE STEALING IT BACK.
> >              Archive - http://www.ntk.net/
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> >     Subscribe? Mail ntknow-subscribe@lists.ntk.net
> >    NTK now is supported by UNFORTU.NET, and by you:
> >              http://www.geekstyle.co.uk/
> >
> >               (K) 2001 Special Projects.
> >  Copying is fine, but include URL: http://www.ntk.net/

"Fair use" is some foreign American thing.  In the UK was have "fair dealing" -
rather similar in concept but should not be regarded as the same.

Simply playing a recording doesn't concern fair dealing.  Copyright law only
restricts some acts and a private performance of a recording isn't one of
them.  Only public performance is restricted.  The UK legislation (Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended) addresses fair dealing by stating
that "fair dealing with a ... work" for certain purposes - such as "research or
private study" - doesn't infringe copyright and that some things are not fair
dealing.  Legislation does not say what constitutes fair dealing - to discover
that you have to refer to case law.

At present UK law doesn't address protection measures (except in some
restricted instances) so there's no reason why you couldn't try to get around
the defect in the CD that prevents it being played on a CDROM drive.
Separately from copyright law I think it is very arguably the case that the
crippled audio CDs do not meet the requirements of the Sale of Goods Act as
amended - the requirement that goods be fit "for all the purposes for which
goods of the kind in question are commonly supplied".  Using a computer's CDROM
drive is hardly an uncommon way of playing an audio CD these days - but that
can only get you your money back, not a playable CD.

As far as copy protected material is concerned it's interesting to look at
Irish law (which also uses the concept of fair dealing) where Section 374 of
the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 (which, although earlier, is intended
to implement the recent EC Copyright Directive).  It explicitly permits
circumvention of "Rights Protection Measures" when a work is used for various
permitted acts including those where fair dealing applies.  That however does
not address private playing of the recording.  As that isn't covered by
copyright law it is also not among the permitted acts.

If you want to look at the Irish Act it's available at
http://www.bailii.org/ie/legis/num_act/carra2000282/

jb