[DMCA-Activists] NY Judge Repudiates Live Music Bootleg Law

[Seth Johnson]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [IP] US judge strikes down live music bootleg law
Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 16:52:31 -0400
From: David Farber <address@hidden>
To: Ip <address@hidden>


Begin forwarded message:

From: Dewayne Hendricks <address@hidden>
Date: September 25, 2004 12:11:04 PM EDT
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <address@hidden>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] US judge strikes down live music bootleg
law

  US judge strikes down bootleg law

A judge has struck down a law which bans the sale of bootleg
recordings of live music in the United States.

  Judge Harold Baer Jr, sitting in New York, dismissed charges
against a Manhattan-based record dealer which had been brought
under the law.

  He said the law could not stand because it placed no time limit
on the ban - unlike the limits placed on books or recorded music
releases.

  Prosecutors said they were "reviewing the decision" the judge
made.

  A federal grand jury indicted Jean Martignon in October 2003
for selling "unauthorised recordings of live performances by
certain music artists through his business".

  But Judge Baer said US law unfairly granted "seemingly
perpetual protection" to the original performances.

  US law defines bootlegs as being recordings of the original
performances, as opposed to copies of already released music,
such as live albums, which are dealt with under piracy
legislation.

  The Recording Industry Association of America criticised the
judge's ruling.

  "It stands in marked contrast to existing law and prior
decisions that have determined that Congress was well within its
constitutional authority to adopt legislation that prevented
trafficking in copies of unauthorised performances of live
music," spokesman Jonathan Lamy said.

  Story from BBC NEWS:
 
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/music/3689580.stm>

  Published: 2004/09/25 13:11:45 GMT


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