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ummm, what? Imagine if the UK, or US claimed jurisdiction over any website that published content in English.
> Q: So the court thinks that the presence of content in German means that courts in Germany have jurisdiction, regardless of the fact that PGLAF is entirely in the US? > A: Yes, that was the original basis of the claim for jurisdiction, which the Court accepted in their judgment. ummm, what? Imagine if the UK, or US claimed jurisdiction over any website that published content in English.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sssh! If you tell foreign courts and litigants about VPNs, they'll stop accepting "we'll block it in your country if you get off our backs" and start demanding international jurisdiction. At that point "it's legal in my country" will no longer suffice for anything online (which is basically everything). Everyone will need to be in compliance with the most restrictive subset of the law. Just in the realm of copyright,…
Hell will freeze over before we get an international court. The US literally has a law on the books to invade the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands if GWB is ever held trial for war crimes (wars of aggression have been a war crime since the end of WW2).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> In Germany, the concept of "Public Domain" does not exist. (EDIT: It may exist 70 years after the authors death). IANAL. Works are "gemeinfrei" (approx. "public domain") 70 years after the author's death, or 70 years after publication for non-natural persons holding a copyright (e.g. corporate copyright). What you might think of is that there's no official way for an author to release works into the public domain i…
I know Germany doesn't do legal precedent, but is there actually any case law demonstrating works can't be put into the public domain? The idea it can't be done is a trope at this point, but I am frankly skeptical. Moral rights to recognition aside, copyright can be sold, like any other property. Why do we think it can't be abandoned, again like any other property?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hell will freeze over before we get an international court. The US literally has a law on the books to invade the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands if GWB is ever held trial for war crimes (wars of aggression have been a war crime since the end of WW2).
Where can I read more about this?
"In 2002, the U.S. Congress passed the American Service-Members' Protection Act (ASPA), which contained a number of provisions, including authorization of the President to "use all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release of any U.S. or allied personnel being detained by, on behalf of, or at the request of the International Criminal Court""
> Q: So the court thinks that the presence of content in German means that courts in Germany have jurisdiction, regardless of the fact that PGLAF is entirely in the US? > A: Yes, that was the original basis of the claim for jurisdiction, which the Court accepted in their judgment. ummm, what? Imagine if the UK, or US claimed jurisdiction over any website that published content in English.
* The website was accessible from Germany
* The website was partly translated into German
* The website offered German-language content
* The explicitly offered worldwide service ("anyone anywhere")
* There was a disclaimer directed at people not located in the US
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In Germany, the concept of "Public Domain" does not exist. (EDIT: It may exist 70 years after the authors death). IANAL. Besides that, even if it would, the books would not have been in the Public Domain. From the announcement: > In Germany, they are copyrighted based on "life +70 years" of copyright protection (so, copyright will expire after 2020, 2025 and 2027, respectively). From a legal and business perspective,…
Nitpick. German intellectual property laws are part of German legislation. Legislation is a body of laws. Maybe you meant the German legislative community. Well, it's their responsibility to maintain the legislation. Laws are not immutable.
We are always complaining about China that they do not fully honor IP. I believe it is an ethical thing to do to honour the laws of the country were sth was originally created even if strictly legally speaking I can move around the world to circumvent unpleasant jurisdiction.
This is great news! This is a wonderful project, and the fact that it wasn't accessible from Germany made me profoundly sad and angry. I hope the responsible copyright lawyers have a hard time sleeping because of this and consider changing their line of work. If you are blocking people from reading books in the public domain, it is a good indication that you are one of the bad guys. Even worse, they only blocked peop…
German courts are aware of the existence of means to circumvent such a block but don't see that as a reason to not even try. See e.g BGH, 26.11.2015 - I ZR 174/14
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nitpick. German intellectual property laws are part of German legislation. Legislation is a body of laws. Maybe you meant the German legislative community. Well, it's their responsibility to maintain the legislation. Laws are not immutable.
I think our legislative has better things to do than to adopt US copyright law before 1978. Although it seems unpopular IMHO it would have caused project Gutenberg no harm to remove this few items until copyright is expired. We are always complaining about China that they do not fully honor IP. I believe it is an ethical thing to do to honour the laws of the country were sth was originally created even if strictly le…