URGENT: Congress Wants To Make Streaming A Felony

[Skul]

Just... just read this ridiculousness:

Tell Congress to oppose S. 978, the new "Ten Strikes" bill

Here they go again: Big business's lobbyists are launching another attack on Internet freedom. Senators are considering a "Ten Strikes" bill to make it a felony to stream copyrighted content -- like music in the background of a Youtube video -- more than ten times.

As the writers at TechDirt point out, under this bill you could go to jail for posting video of your friends singing karaoke:

The entertainment industry is freaking out about sites that embed and stream infringing content, and want law enforcement to put people in jail over it, rather than filing civil lawsuits.... We already pointed to one possibility: that people embedding YouTube videos could face five years in jail. Now, others are pointing out that it could also put kids who lip sync to popular songs, and post the resulting videos on YouTube, in jail as well.

That's right: Ten strikes and you could get jail time. Less than a month ago, the Hollywood industry magazine, Variety, reported, "Industry lobbyists pressed House members on Wednesday to pass legislation that would make illegal streaming of movies, TV shows and other types of content a felony...."

Only a few weeks later, the MPAA is getting its wish. Will you email your lawmakers and tell them to vote against the Ten Strikes Bill? Just add your info at right to automatically send this note to them, under your name and from your address. (You can edit the letter if you'd like to.)

Now, if you edit the letter, don't be an ass an have a bunch of swearing and insults and stuff -- that won't help. This is just a law to protect music, TV and film. However, the wording allows a legal loophole to include game footage, videos of your daughter singing karaoke and such.

Also, here's a video. It relates more to games, but that's only because the guy who made it does that on YouTube: Bill S.978: The End of Let's Plays and Gaming Streams?

Give it a watch, too, even if you're not a gamer, as it's more explanation.

Please sign the form. Takes 20 seconds. Get other people to sign the form. DO EET! NAO! GET TO DA CHOPPAH!

[Fat Man]

I have just now responded by posting my following message at the web site link shown below the YouTube video.

I am a constituent and I urge you to reject S. 978, "A bill to amend the criminal penalty provision for criminal infringement of a copyright".

This bill would allow the government to lock up Americans for streaming videos or music online, and is so overly broad that people who post videos of their friends singing karaoke could be prosecuted. This legislation is a tremendous overreach and I am deeply concerned by the danger it poses to Internet freedom.

Also, in addition, I must add . . . . . (added my me of course)

Many of my favorite Educational YouTube videos, on science, Astronomy, and Evolution sometimes use short pieces of popular music either in the introduction, or as background music in some segments.

Of course, the entire piece in not streamed, but only some segments of the music.

I believe that this is just another attempt at censorship by some right wing religious fundamentalist members in congress, along with some Christian Fundamentalist YouTube users to get many YouTube channels on evolution shut down.

In the past, many have resorted to filing false DMCA claims against the educational channels, along with vote-bots and down-thumbing.

Therefore, this recent idiotic move is just another attempt by some right-wing members in congress to impose censorship.

I would have responded sooner, but I was adding another Playlist to my YouTube channel, a series of 30 videos by Richard Dawkins, Growing Up In The Universe.

http://www.youtube.com/user/BigFatHeretic

As you can see, I did try to be as polite as I could possibly be.

But, I did feel the need to say "idiotic move" because I can not completely refrain from some cynicism.

But then, that's just me.

[Fat Man]

OK, I felt the need to post again in this topic.

Did you all know, that you might be guilty of copyright infringement if you just sing "Happy Birthday" in public?

Yeah! Imagine this following scenario . . . . .

You're having a picnic in a public park. You invite friends of the family, and you spread the table cloth on a picnic table and serve up a nice meal. Or perhaps you and friends of the family are sitting around the table in a restaurant having a meal, and celebrating the birthday of one of your children. After the meal, you bring out a birthday cake, and everybody gathered around sings "Happy Birthday" to your child.

You have just committed copyright infringement!

THAT'S RIGHT! I KID YOU NOT!!!

Check out this following article.

http://www.unhappybirthday.com/

I apologize for having to dump this load of bullshit on all the forum members here.

A birthday that involves copyright infringement is an...

Unhappy Birthday

Did you know Happy Birthday is copyrighted and the copyright is currently owned and actively enforced by Time Warner?

Did you know that if you sing any copyrighted song:
...at a place open to the public
...or among a substantial number of people who are not family or friends
You are involved in a public performance of that work?

Did you know an unauthorized public performance is a form of copyright infringement?


Is Happy Birthday Really Copyrighted?

Yes.

The melody for Happy Birthday was first penned by two sisters from Kentucky, Mildred J. Hill and Patty Smith Hill. The song was called Good Morning to All, but bore the recognizable melody. The tune was first published in 1893 in the book Song Stories for the Kindergarten. The melody has since passed into the public domain, and is safe to hum in public without permission.

While it is not entirely clear who first wrote down the words for Happy Birthday, it showed up in a few places before Jessica Hill (another Hill sister) was able to demonstrate undeniable similarities between Good Morning to All and Happy Birthday and to secure the copyright to the song.

Working with the Clayton F. Summy Publishing Company, Jessica Hill published and copyrighted Happy Birthday in 1935. While the copyright should have expired in 1991, copyright has been extended repeatedly over the last quarter of the twentieth century and the copyright for Happy Birthday is now not due to expire until at least 2030.

The Clayton F. Summy Company is no longer independent, but, through a chain of purchases, the copyright for Happy Birthday To You lies securely in the hands of the Time Warner company. Happy Birthday's copyright is licensed and enforced by ASCAP, and the simple little ditty brings in more than USD $2 million in annual royalties.

For more information on the history of the tune, lyrics, and copyright status, check out these resources:

Snopes' article on the legal status of Happy Birthday
http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/birthday.htm

Great article on Happy Birthday and copyright by Kembrew McLeod
http://www.boycott-riaa.com/article/15999

Kuro5hin's article on parts of the history of Happy Birthday that you might not hear.
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/7/5/112441/6280

Update: This article by law professor Robert Brauneis has raised some important questions about the history of Happy Birthday. That said, copyright in the song continues to be enforced and Warner Brothers continues to collect more than $2 million each year in royalities. Until we hear a judge rule on Brauneis's suggestions, we'll continue to give Warner and the market the benefit of the doubt.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm? ... id=1111624

Is Singing Happy Birthday in Public Really Copyright Infringement?

Yes.

According to United States copyright law in United States Code, Title 17 �§106, authors of works such as musical compositions have the exclusive right "to perform the copyrighted work publicly." In United States Code, Title 17 �§101, the law defines publicly performing a work as "to perform or display it at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered."

This means that if you sing Happy Birthday to your family at home, you're probably not committing copyright infringement. However, if you do it in an restaurant â?? and if the restaurant hasn't already worked out a deal with ASCAP â?? you may be engaging in copyright infringement.

How Can I Help Stop Infringement?

The best way to stop infringement is to tell the authorities and the owners so that they can follow up and arrange for a license and for royalties to be paid. Licenses for Happy Birthday are controlled by ASCAP. While monetary royalties will be negligible for a single restaurant performance, it is the principle that is at stake.

If you have seen someone singing Happy Birthday in a restaurant, a park, or at a school, you should tell ASCAP so that they can arrange for a license. If you are an offender, you should apologize and offer to pay whatever is due â?? a nickel, a quarter, a dollar â?? whatever ASCAP demands.

There is an overwhelming amount of copyright infringement of Happy Birthday. Let's right the balance and tell ASCAP about every one of these violations!

There are many ways to get in contact with ASCAP:

Email
licensing@ascap.com

Mailing Address
ASCAP - New York
One Lincoln Plaza
New York, NY 10023

Phone
1-800-505-4052

It would also be a good idea to keep the song's owner â?? Time Warner â?? in the loop. Here is their contact information:

Mailing Address
Time Warner Inc.
One Time Warner Center
New York, NY 10019-8016

Phone
1-212-484-8000

If you're going to send a message, here's a sample letter. (Before sending such a letter, you should know that some restaurants, nightclubs, etc., pay for blanket ASCAP catalogue licenses that might exempt patrons from copyright liability for singing during dinner.) You'll want to modify yours to include correct details on the infringement:

Dear ASCAP,

The copyright status of "Happy Birthday To You" and the law
related to public performances of copyrighted works have recently been
brought to my attention. I am very concerned by the public's apparent
disregard for copyright law demonstrated by rampant infringement of
"Happy Birthday To You."

It is with this in mind that I wish to bring to your attention a
recent unauthorized public performance:

-->> WHEN (e.g., December 10, 2004)
-->> WHERE (e.g., at the Vol De Nuit at 148 West 4th Street in New York)
-->> WHO (e.g., a group of patrons and the barstaff)

I hope that you are able to quickly follow up on this and to enforce
your copyright and extract the necessary royalties or licenses from
the offenders.

It is, in part, because of your lax and selective enforcement of your
copyright that most people do not realize that "Happy Birthday To You"
is even copyrighted at all.

In the event that you choose to continue selectively enforcing the
copyright in "Happy Birthday To You," for whatever reason, please
consider asking Congress to change copyright law to reflect the way that
most people view and interact with copyrighted works such as "Happy
Birthday."

Sincerely yours,
-->> YOUR NAME
-->> YOUR ADDRESS

About Us

Unhappy Birthday is a grassroots project run by citizens who are outraged by rampant copyright infringement in today's society â?? particularly in relation to the song Happy Birthday.

You can support us by buying overpriced items in the official Unhappy Birthday store.
http://www.cafepress.com/unhappybirthday

Our president is Raymond Ty. You can get in contact with our leadership by emailing our copyrighteous spokesman â?? Benjamin Mako Hill â?? at mako@atdot.cc

OK, this is really moronic!

Now then, if BILL S. 978 passes in congress, could you go to jail for it?

Well, only if you violate this law 10 times, another words, 10 strikes and you're out, or actually, 10 strikes and you're in . . . . . . .

IN THE SLAMMER THAT IS!

Ah, I remember when I was a kid, my family, my mother and the three of us kids, we would pack our tent and camping equipment in the car, and during the summer travel across the country going to the national parks.

We would set up camp, pitch the tent, and then in the evening we would build a camp fire and roast hotdogs and marshmallows, and when we were done eating, as the sun went down we sat around the camp fire singing all kinds of songs that we knew.

Music was pretty much a part of our lives when were growing up. When we were traveling in our car, Mom and us three kids would be singing. And we were pretty good, because we sang in three-part harmony.

And when we were camping in a public national park, we sang around the camp fire, and other people would sometimes come over to our camp and listen, and even request songs.

It was fun.

The only happy memories I have of my childhood, was when we left that dirty little town we were living in, and during the summer months, traveling across the country and camping in state parks or national parks.

We were members of the NCHA, the National Campers and Hikers Association, a local chapter in Duluth Minnesota, and we had a folding wooden sign that we set up in or camp, with the NCHA logo on it and a cute picture of a gopher sitting by the camp fire and it also said "Gopher Fun!" another words, Go For Fun!

Occasionally, we would meet other members of the NCHA from other states when we were camping in some national forest somewhere. Each local chapter had it's own unique logo.

Sometimes during our chapter meetings, we would meet in the pavilion at Jay Cooke State Park and we would play games, have a big feast, a fire going in the great big fireplace, and we would sing all kinds of songs.

But now, congress wants to make it illegal to sing songs in public.

If a family does it 10 times, then it's 10 strikes against them.

The parents could go to jail, and if any of the kids in the family are 18 and over, they too could go to jail, for up to 5 years.

Yeah! Imagine an 18 year old kid serving 5 years in the federal pen because he sat with his friend around the camp fire playing his guitar and singing in a public park where other people around them could hear.

As if our prisons were not over-crowded enough. We'll have to turn all the rapists and child molesters loose to make room for all the people who's only crime was playing a guitar and singing popular songs in a public park.

Yeah, some teenage kid serving time in some really violent prison, where he might get beaten and raped, or even killed, just because he sang a popular song at a campfire in a park.

God bless America! Eh?

Yeah! We actually have some morons who seem to be in favor of stricter laws to regulate our lives.

Unhappy Birthday is a grassroots project run by citizens who are outraged by rampant copyright infringement in today's society â?? particularly in relation to the song Happy Birthday.

Uh huh! They are outraged that people would dare to sing "Happy Birthday" to their kids in a public setting without first getting permission, filing a bunch of forms, and paying for the privilege.

But in the meantime we give away free Hummers to football players after they have raped someone's sister or daughter!

Oh! But we must pay for permission to sing a song!

This Unhappy Birthday grass roots movement, they are just a fucking retarded bunch of morons. Our country is becoming more and more conservative, and leaning further toward the right. As people become more conservative, they become more anti-intellectual, and tend to favor more and more draconian penalties for lesser and lesser offenses, like for example: right-wing Christard Funny-mentalists like Michael Pearl and James Dobson who believe that even a 2 year old infant should be whipped with a length of quarter-inch plumbing supply line for crying too much, and the more a baby cries, the more it should be whipped. There have even been a couple of cases where little children were beaten to death by their parents who were followers of Michael Pearl and James Dobson.

You know, the USA is now becoming worse than the former Soviet Union ever thought of being!

Uh huh! That's right!

True, their system of government sucked and all that, but at least you could still sit around the camp fire with your comrades, drink some Vodka, smoke those really good Cuban cigars, and sing a few songs. Also, Russian folk songs are kind of cool!

Yeah! Sometimes ya just gotta love those Commies!

And by the way . . . we have some people who want to outlaw tobacco and alcohol so in addition to not being allowed to sing, they want to take away my pipe, my cigars, and my beer!

Oh! How I long for the return of the good ol' Soviet Union where I would have far more freedom than I will have in the future USA after the Republicans in congress get done with us.

At least the Commies allowed you to drink, smoke, and sing!

OK, now, I would understand, that if you were charging admission for people to hear you sing, and if you were making money singing in a public place, then, that might be copyright infringement.

But friends and family sitting around a campfire, even in a public park, singing popular songs and playing guitars?

Next, they'll outlaw musical instruments, and the only things we'll be allowed to play with are balls for sports.

Then they will outlaw science books and we'll only be allowed to read the BUY BULL!!!

COME ON PEOPLE!!!

Like, let's GET REAL!!! OK???

Now, in the meantime . . . . .

I'm going to smoke one of my cigars, and have a cup of coffee with a shot of Vodka in it.

Catch ya later, my dear Comrades!

[Fat Man]

Well, nobody else here seems to be interested in this topic.

The following YouTube video shows scenes from the Microsoft Train Simulator video game.

Well, it's not exactly a game, it's a simulator. I happen to have the Microsoft Train Simulator on my computer.

Anyway . . . . .

Here is the video which is also accompanied by the song, City Of New Orleans.

City Of New Orleans
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piUWIqWSthA

And here are the lyrics to the song.

The City of New Orleans
by Steve Goodman

Riding on the City of New Orleans,
Illinois Central Monday morning rail
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders,
Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail.
All along the southbound odyssey
The train pulls out at Kankakee
Rolls along past houses, farms and fields.
Passin' trains that have no names,
Freight yards full of old black men
And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles.

CHORUS:
Good morning America how are you?
Don't you know me I'm your native son,
I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans,
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.

Dealin' card games with the old men in the club car.
Penny a point ain't no one keepin' score.
Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle
Feel the wheels rumblin' 'neath the floor.
And the sons of pullman porters
And the sons of engineers
Ride their father's magic carpets made of steel.
Mothers with their babes asleep,
Are rockin' to the gentle beat
And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel.

CHORUS:
Good morning America how are you?
Don't you know me I'm your native son,
I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans,
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.

Nighttime on The City of New Orleans,
Changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee.
Half way home, we'll be there by morning
Through the Mississippi darkness
Rolling down to the sea.
And all the towns and people seem
To fade into a bad dream
And the steel rails still ain't heard the news.
The conductor sings his song again,
The passengers will please refrain
This train's got the disappearing railroad blues.

CHORUS:
Good night, America, how are you?
Don't you know me I'm your native son,
I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans,
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.

Yeah! Beautiful videos, and really cool songs.

But the Republicans are like Muslim terrorists.

They hate music, and want to put people in prison for 5 years for streaming music and scenes from video games.

Fuck you America! I hate you!

I say, let's round up all the Republicans, put them in Gitmo, and water-board all them baby-fucking pedophiles!

Give them a taste of their own bad medicine!

Dead Nanny.JPG (28.54 KiB) Viewed 800 times

[ChrisOH]

But the Republicans are like Muslim terrorists.

They hate music, and want to put people in prison for 5 years for streaming music and scenes from video games.

Hello Fat Man! Sorry for the late reply...

I'm by no means an expert on copyright law, but I was always under the impression that as long as no money was being made off a song, film, or other artwork, there was no copyright violation (which was why the "Happy Birthday" song, for example, was rarely penalized) and no need for royalties. I remember in my college days, when CD's first came out, my friends and I believed that we were allowed to make copies for our own use (like one for the house and one for the car), but that we couldn't give those copies away, as it would be taking business away from the artists or recording companies, since the giftee might have purchased their own copy had they not been given the bootleg one for free.

But, this also raised a question: At what point does hearing a song require you to pay for it? If it's the song that's the intellectual property, then the act of consumption would be listening to it. So why can I listen to music on the radio and not pay for it? Or listen to music being played on a store's PA system? Or go to a friend's house and listen to a CD that he bought? I'm not paying for these, but I can still listen and enjoy just as if it were my own purchased recording. Or, what if I hear the song but don't enjoy it (such as on the store PA system)? Should I still have to pay for something I didn't wish to "consume" in the first place?

As far as YouTube, most music uploaders probably aren't making money, but are they preventing the viewers/listeners from purchasing their own copies of the music? Again, I'm no expert, but my gut feeling is "no". Although most popular songs can be found somewhere on YouTube, I, as the listener, am subject to the decisions of the uploader -- there's no guarantee the song will be there anytime I want to listen, whereas if I purchase my own CD, MP3 download, etc., it's mine to keep and enjoy at my discretion. In fact, may artists and recording studios upload the YouTube music videos themselves, as a) they can slap banner ads on them and b) it promotes the artist and demand for their additional work (which may not yet be available through "free" channels).

It's a touchy area, to be sure...and I wish I could give a more definitive response! It is an interesting subject, though, and one I'd like to see more discussion of.