For U.S. citizens: Requested DMCA exemption for AMVs, etc.

[trythil]

From your friends Fred von Lohmann and Jennifer S. Granick at the EFF, a DMCA exemption request sent directly to the U.S. Copyright Office.

http://www.copyright.gov/1201/2008/comm ... n-fred.pdf

Page 16 specifically mentions vidding and AMVs as examples of "an established remix community that relies on clips from DVDs".

As written, I'm not sure if the requested exemption is general enough; many AMVs (and works of vidding for that matter) do a lot more than mere "extraction". But even if this exemption turns out to not encompass all AMVs, it's a real start.

I'm not sure what you can specifically do to make that exemption go through, though obviously "write letters to your Senator", "suggest stuff via change.gov", and stuff like that are always options.

[Koopiskeva]

for

[trythil]

Actually --

I'm not really sure if this requested exemption does anything for AMVs; one has to remember that most copyrights for anime are registered in Japan. This exemption does a lot of good for vidders using sources owned by U.S. copyright holders (obviously) but AMVs, well, dunno. The situation gets more complicated if you consider that some AMVers turn to imported DVDs and strip the region restrictions off.

I don't know enough about Japanese, U.S., and international copyright law to say what happens in cases like that.

Still, though, encouraging.

[kmv]

I note that there is nothing in there about the music - only the clips taken from DVD. Vogue is mentioned but only as an example, and no attempt is made to request that the music be exempted too.

A positive start though.

[JaddziaDax]

it would be nice :3

[Chaobunny12]

That would be awesome, if something like that went through. I don't feel like making an AMV deserved to be called a crime, it's not like we're making a profit off of it. Videos are just for enjoyment.

[JudgeHolden]

The Anime and Movie industries have never been the ones that scare me .... it's the music industry we have to worry about.

[Infinity Squared]

This was quite an informative read and certainly highlights something to me that though I probably knew, it was something I didn't quite clearly realise and that being that there's just far too many things/issues out there wanting to trample on the things we do.

As if we didn't have enough to worry about the music industry and the film/animation industry and their copyright war against us, there's also of course these things which can be construed as attacking us from a different angle, that being through making ripping an illegal act. Add to that the other issues like internet censorship and whatever other nasties the big money people want to impose on us and it really does become worrying.

Three and a half minutes of music and video seems so expensive.

[Dr. Derpface, J.D.]

The DMCA needs to be done away with once and for all. This little comment snip from the Slashdot discussion says it all, I think.

Think about that -- it is a federal crime to crack the DRM. It's merely a civil offense to redistribute the music. One goes on your record, the other doesn't. WTF?!

There's something inherently wrong with a law that makes you guilty of a felony just by the mere act of ripping a DVD to your computer. Or in the case of Linux users, for just taking steps necessary to WATCH the damned thing. What's next, felony charges for using a "non-trusted" OS (i.e. Windows)?

[Voices_Of_Ryan]

It's going to be illegal now, 10 years from now and forever to take something that was made by someone else and repackedge it for a group entertainment value without the copywriters consent.

Get it outta your head that this'll ever be legal guys... It won't.
If it ever becomes legal, i'm going to a blockbuster and taking every copy of every dvd home, ripping it on the pc, cutting a scene out and putting new music behind it. Then putting it online as a "new" movie.