[free-sklyarov] locking up books

Eric Eldred ericeldred at usa.net
Sun Jul 22 12:59:39 PDT 2001


It is hard for me to understand how companies
such as Adobe expect to lock up books with
DRMs.

It is easy and cheap enough for any determined
copyist to simply retype the book from the
computer or ebook appliance display.  Marginally
more difficult is doing a screen capture and
OCR.

Conventional copyright law already prohibits
"unauthorized" redistribution of copyrighted
works.  But Adobe and Microsoft and others also
lock up ebooks that are in the public domain.
Fair use and first sale rights mean that without
the DMCA the legitimate purchaser of an ebook
can make an archival copy or a copy that will
work on another computer, such as a Macintosh.
And librarians ought to have the legal right to
unlock books once they enter the public domain.
(Of course, the DMCA in concert with the Sonny
Bono Copyright Term Extension Act means that 
books so locked up will never enter the public
domain anyway and will forever be pay-per-view.)

I can understand how consumers might not be upset
about being barred by the DMCA from making copies
of DVD movies.  But they ought to be upset about
what is happening with book publishing.  The laws
such as the DMCA are not just unnecessary--they
also are pernicious.  They work against the public
interest and the real longterm interests of authors
and publishers and libraries and readers and 
consumers alike.  

I hope we can use this case to overturn the DMCA.
But in any case, companies such as Adobe ought to
see that they are going down the wrong path in
trying to lock up books.  





____
"Eric"    Eric Eldred   mailto:ericeldred at usa.net
http://eldred.ne.mediaone.net   "Eldritch Press"

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