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Uploading Pirated Books via BitTorrent Qualifies as Fair Use, Meta Argues

torrentfreak.com

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Re: Uploading Pirated Books via BitTorrent Qualifies as Fair Use, Meta Argues

#11

Post by dns_snek »

lukan wrote: post #2

The world has become so strange. In my pirate youth, I would have never imagined the big companies to argue in courts like this, basically pro piracy. And the activists are now against it, because the big guys are doing it.

> And the activists are now against it, because the big guys are doing it.

The activists are against it because the big guys are exploiting us small guys, again. Nobody would give a shit if Meta was just torrenting Nintendo's IP and OpenAI was torrenting Netflix IP, except the lawyers working for these companies.

Re: Uploading Pirated Books via BitTorrent Qualifies as Fair Use, Meta Argues

#12

Post by Sayrus »

Ekaros wrote: post #8
Sayrus wrote: post #7

> Anyone who uses BitTorrent to transfer files automatically uploads content to other people, as it is inherent to the protocol. In other words, the uploading wasn’t a choice, it was simply how the technology works. What an argument to make in court. It can be proved false in minutes by the plaintiffs.

I can't believe that no one has ever tried that one before... So do we now roll back all of the previous copyright cases where downloading music with bittorrent has been prosecuted?

From my understanding, Meta's use of the pirated book was accepted as fair use and the plaintiffs admitted to no harm. In the case of pirated music and films, neither of those points are made. Copyright holders assume people who pirate would have bought the content, usually even assuming that one download is one lost sale. And I am not aware of a single case where watching or listening to pirated content was accepted as fair use.

It is interesting to follow how this plays out for Meta and how that will impact future cases.

Re: Uploading Pirated Books via BitTorrent Qualifies as Fair Use, Meta Argues

#13

Post by Hamuko »

Sayrus wrote: post #12
Ekaros wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't believe that no one has ever tried that one before... So do we now roll back all of the previous copyright cases where downloading music with bittorrent has been prosecuted?

From my understanding, Meta's use of the pirated book was accepted as fair use and the plaintiffs admitted to no harm. In the case of pirated music and films, neither of those points are made. Copyright holders assume people who pirate would have bought the content, usually even assuming that one download is one lost sale. And I am not aware of a single case where watching or listening to pirated content was accepted…

We consumers just need BiTorrent clients that come with LLM training code incorporated, as that transforms the downloads into fair use (according to the very expensive Meta legal team).

Re: Uploading Pirated Books via BitTorrent Qualifies as Fair Use, Meta Argues

#15

Post by willis936 »

lukan wrote: post #2

The world has become so strange. In my pirate youth, I would have never imagined the big companies to argue in courts like this, basically pro piracy. And the activists are now against it, because the big guys are doing it.

It's not like there has been some change in principle and some sort of knife to sharpen. "2005 personal pirate" was about making art accessible. "2025 corpo pirate" is about killing art.

Re: Uploading Pirated Books via BitTorrent Qualifies as Fair Use, Meta Argues

#17

Post by throw73848595 »

Sayrus wrote: post #7

> Anyone who uses BitTorrent to transfer files automatically uploads content to other people, as it is inherent to the protocol. In other words, the uploading wasn’t a choice, it was simply how the technology works. What an argument to make in court. It can be proved false in minutes by the plaintiffs.

This. You can set upload speed to zero, and download entire dataset without uploading anything. Slower but doable.

Re: Uploading Pirated Books via BitTorrent Qualifies as Fair Use, Meta Argues

#19

Post by applfanboysbgon »

Ekaros wrote: post #8
Sayrus wrote: post #7

> Anyone who uses BitTorrent to transfer files automatically uploads content to other people, as it is inherent to the protocol. In other words, the uploading wasn’t a choice, it was simply how the technology works. What an argument to make in court. It can be proved false in minutes by the plaintiffs.

I can't believe that no one has ever tried that one before... So do we now roll back all of the previous copyright cases where downloading music with bittorrent has been prosecuted?

> So do we now roll back all of the previous copyright cases where downloading music with bittorrent has been prosecuted

No, because those cases were pirating-while-poor. This is pirating-while-trillion-dollar-corporation, which falls under a completely different section of the law.

Re: Uploading Pirated Books via BitTorrent Qualifies as Fair Use, Meta Argues

#20

Post by gmokki »

Sayrus wrote: post #7

> Anyone who uses BitTorrent to transfer files automatically uploads content to other people, as it is inherent to the protocol. In other words, the uploading wasn’t a choice, it was simply how the technology works. What an argument to make in court. It can be proved false in minutes by the plaintiffs.

When I pull the trigger and the bullet kills an another person, it is just how technology works. Why would I be responsible if I choose to use it or not?
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