What Are Piracy Laws?

Piracy refers to the act of making copies and redistributions of works, publications, etc. reproduced by the new manufacturer exactly in accordance with the source code without the consent or authorization of the copyright owner. In most countries and regions, this behavior is defined as a violation of intellectual property rights, and even constitutes a crime, and will be punished by the country in which it is located. Pirated publications usually include pirated books, pirated software, pirated audiovisual works, and pirated online knowledge products. Piracy, as the saying goes "D version". This violates the law and the buyer cannot be protected by law.

[dào bn]

"Piracy of audiovisual products" refers to the illegal copying of copyrighted audiovisual products, counterfeiting and selling software products. Multimedia products such as movies, TV series, and musical dramas are the most common.

Taking movies as an example, there are usually the following forms:

1. Disc version: Relatively better

"Software piracy" refers to the illegal copying of software programs with copyright protection, counterfeiting and selling software products. Software piracy has a common set of judgment criteria, and specific software needs to refer to its end-user license agreement (

Software piracy has greatly hit the domestic information industry, especially

Before the United States had risen to become a global hegemon, in order to improve education and cultural literacy for all, the United States was a paradise for pirates and spawned "book hunters" targeting foreign bestsellers.

New York's Canal Street and Broadway Street are known as New York's "Xiu Shui Street", which is no less famous than Wall Street in the United States, because it is the home of pirated goods in the United States.

In the American version of "Xiu Shui Street", many pirated shops will hire people to solicit. The first floor of these shops are cheap tourist souvenirs, but there is no hole in the basement. The narrow stairs are full of customers, and the simple counters are filled with various pirated DVDs, including "Transformers II" which is being released The film company will not release a genuine DVD until a few months after the release. There are also a large number of pirated CDs, including the latest rap albums that have not yet been released publicly. Genuine computer software costs about $ 250, which costs only $ 20 to $ 25; pirated CDs cost about $ 6.

An Australian guy named Diano bought an imitation Louis Vuitton handbag here and exclaimed: "Oh my God, the anti-piracy guardian of the United States is also pirating!"

In fact, the history of piracy in the United States is as long as the history of this country, and piracy that has been approved by US authorities has lasted for more than a century. Dickens, Mark Twain and other big-name writers have been deeply affected. No wonder Taiwanese scholar Li Ao said: "The United States is the patriarch of piracy!"

"Dickensian fever" is actually due to piracy

39-year-old socialite Jane Bigelow from Baltimore, as a devoted fan of Charles Dickens (1812-1870), even regarded Dickens as her own private property, she even waved her fist to an old widow who visited Dickens. Ground.

Jane Bigrow was named "Dickens's Crazyest Fan", and during his 76-day tour of the United States from 1867 to 1868, his popularity was no less than today. Popular star.

In response to this tour, New York historian Powell commented, "Dickens' visit to the United States was an invasion of British culture. He was the first modern celebrity to have a sensational effect."

Dialectically, this second sentence is correct, and the first half is suspected of whitewashing American culture. Because when Dickens visited the United States, the United States was less than 100 years old, and the so-called American culture was almost all pirated from the United Kingdom. Dickens has a large fan base in the United States, and it is because his works are popularized through pirating. of.

From the enactment of the Copyright Act 1790 by the United States Congress in 1777 to the implementation of the International Copyright Act of 1891, for more than 100 years, with the permission of the authorities, countless British books have been pirated in the United States. At that time, it appeared in the form of piracy. Even the founding fathers of the United States, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and others all had a copy.

And literary works of famous writers like Dickens are even more unlikely to survive. In 1843, Dickens's "October of Christmas" was published in the United Kingdom. It sold for £ 2 in London. Soon, people could buy a pirated copy for 6 cents in a bookstore in the United States, but Dickens did not get the United States. A dime for the publisher.

Dickens was certainly dissatisfied with this situation. In two reading tours in the United States in 1842 and 1867, he appealed to the United States Congress to protect the copyright of British writers. Unpopular people in politics.

Not only was Dickens' request unsuccessful. In the decades since the piracy began in the United States, many British writers have petitioned the US Congress for amendments to the law, but none have come to fruition.

Mark Twain royalty is only $ 3,000

Although foreign writers such as Dickens have been pirated in the United States, at least in the United Kingdom or other countries can still have a lot of royalties, but native American writers such as Mark Twain are not so lucky. He works from publishers every year. Only get a $ 3,000 royalty.

In the 1880s, Mark Twain had gained great fame when he was 50 years old, and the six works published were the best-selling books in the United States at that time. Many publishers are aware of this market, rushing to pirate his works, and many rich people are present.

According to the contract he signed with the American Publishing Company, the company wanted to buy out the copyright of his work. Even as a world-renowned writer, Mark Twain received only 10% of his remuneration, that is, the annual fee of $ 3,000. .

At the time, even authors who didn't have much visibility could get a 10% minimum manuscript. And if Mark Twain runs a publishing company to publish his own works, he can earn at least $ 25,000 in copyright income each year.

Not long after, Mark Twain found that his book was not only pirated in the country, but also sold well in Canada and the United Kingdom, but he did not even see a penny of royalties. He also found that starting in 1862, publishers began selling pirated masterpieces directly to readers at wholesale prices, for as little as 10 cents each. By 1880, the Donnelly Publishing Company of Chicago alone had published a total of 14 different "libraries", including hundreds of books.

He was annoyed that the sales of Mark Twain's works in the United States were greatly affected by the impact of cheap British pirated books. In the same mood as Dickens, Mark Twain petitioned the US Congress for copyright protection, but he got almost the same ending as Dickens.

Authorities told him that access to cheap books by the American public was far more valuable than securing the income of a few American writers (or worse, British writers), and to his ridicule, authorities insisted that he and many writers " It's been pretty good. "

Piracy Party publicly supports Obama

The piracy recognized by American law ended in 1891, and Dickens did not wait until that day. Mark Twain waited, but was more depressed than Dickens, because civil piracy began to rise again, and it was better than legally recognized piracy.

To this day, the good piracy tradition in the United States continues in the public. What is even more sturdy is that the piracy groups in the United States have even formed a political party, the Pirate Party of the United States (PPUS).

According to the original plan, the American Piracy Party was to be created in 2008, and the big pirate dealer Danny Fowler was arrested, bringing its creation date to July 2006.

Prior to his arrest, Florida tycoon Fowler owned multiple aircraft and two limousines. He also operated a flight school and formed a fire brigade.

Fowler's huge assets come from piracy. From selling pirated software online in 2002, to the FBI's seizure of luxury homes in June 2006, Fowler has accumulated tens of millions of dollars in assets through piracy.

Fowler's arrest made all piracy traffickers at risk for a while. Before the conditions for registration were fully mature, the piracy party was hurriedly advanced.

The idea of the American Piracy Party is clear: to return copyright law to its original purpose: to disseminate works as quickly and widely as possible, and to repeal many very "harmful" copyright laws. In other words, what it wants is the legalization of piracy.

Of course, the piracy party advocates that the fundamental purpose of legalizing piracy is to get money, but at least it seems to be really promoting a great cause to promote American progress.

In January 2008, the U.S. Piracy Party issued a statement in support of Obama, the Democrat who had just won the Iowa primaries, saying that it was the only candidate who recognized that the copyright system must be reformed and that it had shifted from protecting commercial interests to promoting cultural progress people.

I don't know how Obama felt when he signed pirated documents against other countries.

Europe and the United States find it difficult to curb demand for piracy

Anti-copyrights in Sweden, France, the United States, and other places have formed political parties, calling themselves "Pirate Parties" in order to promote anti-copyright protection actions on a political level.

Sweden:

From "Piracy Port" to "Piracy Party"

In Sweden, as long as 4% of the vote is taken, there is a parliamentary seat. In the Swedish parliamentary elections in 2006, the Swedish Piracy Party received 0.63% of the votes. The Swedish Piracy Party plans to establish a pan-European political party to achieve timely union with the EU member states' piracy parties to participate in the June 2009 European Parliament elections.

French "piracy party"

The French Piracy Party stated: "We, French Internet users, have observed the expropriation of French Internet domains by a few groups and powerful organizations, which has led to prejudice against the majority of Internet users. We demand that non-profit P2P websites be legalized."

US "Piracy Party"

The American Piracy Party was modeled after the Swedish Piracy Party. Its purpose is "to fundamentally reform copyright law, abolish the patent system, and ensure the privacy of citizens." ^[2]

International Piracy Party Alliance

In 2006, the established piracy parties of various countries jointly established the "PP- International"-an international forum / organization to exchange experiences and exchange opinions. Sweden plays a very important role in this. At present, 19 countries have established piracy parties, including the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Russia. Among them, there are 12 European countries, 2 in North America (USA, Canada), 2 in South America (Brazil, Peru), and 2 in Oceania. (Australia, New Zealand), Africa (South Africa).

In today's world, the United States is one of the most active countries in the protection of intellectual property rights, and often criticizes some countries for the protection of intellectual property rights. As everyone knows, the United States was also a major piracy country in its early years. Its piracy of books has been recognized by the government, and piracy has lasted a century.

One year after the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, Congress exercised its powers to enact the Copyright Act 1790 in order to "promote science and useful art".

Immediately after the law came into effect, the new country began ... piracy!

The Copyright Act 1790 only protects U.S. citizens, but does not protect foreign writers or publishers. Since the implementation of the Queen Anne Act, England (more precisely, Great Britain) has signed reciprocal agreements with some other countries. By the time the Copyright Act 1790 was enacted, all countries in the West except Russia, the Ottoman Empire and the United States had recognized and Respect the copyright of works by foreign writers and publishers.

But at the beginning of the founding of the United States, there were far more British literary works than the United States. At the same time, the newly independent American public still regarded Britain as its cultural source. Because no reciprocal agreement was signed with the United Kingdom, American booksellers could obtain works by well-known writers such as Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, and Thomas Hardy, and then remake them in the United States, far less than imported original works. Price for sale. Moreover, they pay neither the original authors in the UK nor worry about whether they are publishing bestsellers.

For example, Dickens's "October of Christmas" written in 1843 sold for 2 pounds in London, but it can be bought in the United States for only 6 cents, and Dickens did not get a hair.

As a result, British writers have petitioned the United States Congress for amendments to the law. The most famous of them is Henry Cray, known as the "great mediator". He has been vocal for British writers for decades, but without results. Printers and booksellers are opposing parties, citing the loss of job opportunities, the negative impact on the US economy, and the high book prices that are detrimental to the cultural popularization of the growing American population.

Piracy lasts a century

Facing these competitions, publishers in the eastern United States began to support the idea of international copyright, because through their existing relationships with British writers, they had more competitive capital than their enemies in Chicago. They started a price war with each other and launched their own "library." Overall, the original pattern was disintegrated like lightning.

An international copyright law was not passed until the large US printers union joined the front. For years, they have lobbied Congress to argue against international copyright because job opportunities in the printing industry are guaranteed. But low-cost book publishers in the 1870s and 1880s cut costs by printing in cities that lacked strong unions, or hiring women, because their salaries were only a fraction of men's. In other words, the absence of international copyright no longer protects job opportunities for union members. By 1888, printers, writers, and publishers finally agreed to support international copyright. The International Copyright Act passed in 1891 also provides copyright protection for books published outside the United States, but books published by American citizens outside the United States are not covered.

This is the end of a century of government-approved book piracy in the United States. The time span of book piracy is unrivalled, 10 times that of Scotland in second place.

The United States has very strict control over the exit of books and materials. It can be said that only state officials are allowed to set fires and people are not allowed to light. The practice of frequently attacking some countries on the protection of intellectual property rights has also become a yoke of the United States in restricting the development of scientific and technological knowledge in developing countries. It has become one of the means for the United States to maintain the solidified class of global hegemony. ^[3]