I was browsing through the table of contents and one of the
first things that caught my eye was "Reproduction for Private Purposes".
One of the questions that I had was "... will I be limited again?
...". As I read the document I noticed that the
language used in the document is vague and seems to be open to interpretation.
For example, the document uses the words " ... the individual had
reasonable grounds to believe...". Everybody's reason is formed based on
unique experiences; a child's reason is different from an 19 year old's whose
reason is different from a 50 year old's.
While reading the section further, I came across this
clause: "... the individual does
not give the reproduction away ...". Instantly my intuition suggested that
such simple combination of words will be extremely significant in dictating
people's every day lives.
I began to think about this by contemplating on analogous
scenarios. I believe the best way to interpret this would be by comparing it to
a scenario with no harm intended for the copyright holder. In elementary
school, we would make tie-dye shirts. Our teachers, parents or school would
purchase plain white t-shirts and then at school the entire class would get
together and decorate these shirts. We would paint , dye and decorate them in
numerous ways. We would make the shirts for ourselves or as gifts for our
family and friends. If you dissect this scenario, you will notice that somebody
or bodies, purchased some plain white t-shirts, with the clear understanding
that they will be "reproduced for private purposes" and then they
will be distributed to others i.e. "... give the reproduction away...".
When it comes to electronic media, if I were to reproduce
something, perhaps a song or create a CD of someone's favourite songs and
present it as a gift, how different is it from the tie-dyeing scenario?
Hypothetically speaking, if I were to produce a music CD of someone's favourite
songs to present as a gift, I would, under no circumstances, intend to
financially profit from the act. Moreover, the person I were to gift this to
would also not want to profit from the creation. Regardless of our intentions
it would be illegal for us to engage in such activities. I see this as a
fundamental flaw.
The answer to my initial question, " ...would I be
limited again ?..." is yes, although not as much as before.
Another concept I would like to explore is sharing. I would
like to know how this law would affect my ability to "share", as
oppose to "give away" the reproduction or the original media.
Hopefully by my next blog post, I would be able to determine if this law will
impact the ability to naively share.
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