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I'm not aware of all the ins and outs of it, but I do know that a handful of writers (or was it one writer? with a handful behind him?!) sued The Globe and Mail (Canada's national newspaper - one of 'em, anyway) because of the electronic copyright situation there. The Globe was not paying for electronic rights, yet was using them on its website (as I understand it) - and making money every time someone paid to download an article. (Sorry, I don't know what the result was, or even if there has been a result yet.) This "information age" has made copyright law rather tricky (lawyers on this site can probably attest to that). But as the article you've provided a link for suggests, we were in trouble even with the photocopier. I'm sure if I had a dime for every copy someone Out There has made from my published articles, I'd be a rich woman. It's not that I've had a LOT published nationally, but I have had three articles in the Globe (a long time ago - 1993) and two of them were on fairly volatile subjects that meant the pieces begged to be copied and handed out (in certain circs). Of course I have no idea how much they were copied. Technically, no one may photocopy something without the author's permission (assuming copyright has not expired) - but I'm sure the instances in which I WAS contacted, were just the tip of the iceberg. It's something that makes me nervous about sending my work to anyone electronically. If it's a commissioned article and I know I'll be paid for it, I don't mind as much - though I still wonder if anyone will shanghai it on its way and then pass it off as his/her own in some neck o' the woods of which I have no inkling.... In Canada, every written thing is copyrighted the instant it is created. That's all very well, but alas, there is no proof. The most obvious thing you can do (and I have done it) to protect your writing, is to send it to yourself by registered mail and not open the envelope when it arrives. This will stand up in a court of law, should anyone plagiarize your work and you discover the crime. But electronic media - tricky, very tricky. The world-wide web is just that - world-wide. How can you police it all to your own satisfaction and know that no one is using your work? Fortunately, plagiarism of this kind seems pretty rare, but you never know.... 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Freedom of public information. Pure and simple. End of argument.
DubDoubtless
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Carpal Tunnel
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Freedom of public information. Pure and simple. End of argument.
[snip] (saving for posterity) [snip]...
here is our princess of double dubiety, who sees (we thought) everything through multicolored glasses, taking a solidly black-and-white stance.
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Carpal Tunnel
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well, i am most second WW-- Yes, freedom of information.
but if i am making a profit off your work.. well that is theft.
if i take your work for my own personal pleasure, and enjoyment, and do not distribute for profit. even if you are trying to sell it in other media, i might take it for free in electronic media.. and thats OK
There are "free" i pay for all the time. I pay for "public TV" , i am a sponsering member of several museums.. museums that any one of you could enter for a 1 cent (they are not quite free, you must pay something, but 1 cent is something.) i buy books that i can read on line, or borrow from the library for free.
i buy the NY times, even though its available for free on line. the electronic formate doesn't meet all my needs.
i have posted links to the New Yorker-- maybe you have read them, and thought.. "gee, i never read this magazine, and i never thought i'd enjoy it, but now, i see it is something i would like! substitute Discover, Scientific American, the Guardian, etc., for the New Yorker
and maybe now you subscribe! the free information doesn't mean the end of paid information, it might even make other media more valuable or viable!
and if read something by our modest godsess, and was impressed, i might got to amazon, and search to see if she had a book available.. the "free copy" might wet my interest.
we've had libraries available in US (free libraries!) for almost 200 years. (some places longer!) free libraries don't put publishers out of business, or book stores out of business.. if anything, libraries introduce us to reading, and to authors, and increases the likely hood we will by a book!
hollywood was convince no one would go to movies once VRC appeared, especially if someone could tape movies! but more people than ever go to the movies.
i think they are being anti american, and doing themselve no good either! nowdays people are buying 'home theaters' -- they are not generally watching movies on their lap tops, even if they can down load a dvd image and watch it on line. i have seen pieces of movies, or parts of movies on a plane, and then gone out and rented them. sometimes i never would have thought to rent a movie, except i saw it, or a piece of it.. for free!
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All generalisations are dangerous.
Theft of intellectual property. Pure and simple. End of argument.
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old hand
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If the owner of certain artistic property cannot be determined unequivocally, then it belongs to every single person who holds it in memory and makes use of it.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Some solemn predictions turn out to be laughably erroneous. I can remember very mediocre musicians in the twenties declaring that "canned music" was a serious threat to sll musicians, that no reproduced music should be legal.
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>...no reproduced music should be legal. musick seems to agree with that philosophically. http://home.mn.rr.com/wwftd/
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Dear tsuwm: Sounds like you are trying to start a row with musick. I have seen too many of his posts referring to his extensive collection of recorded music to suppose he would be willing to give it up, even if it meant he might earn a bit more.
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perhaps I misremember, but hasn't he claimed that his collection is rather small and he prefers 'live' music?? http://home.mn.rr.com/wwftd/
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old hand
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Interesting that of troy mentions libraries, where people borrow books for free.....That's true and I am sooo in favour of that. However, one thing I adore about Canada is the Public Lending Right (PLR) program run (I believe) by TWUC (The Writers's Union of Canada). If you register your published book with the PLR people, you will get a cheque each year representing (in a theoretical way) the number of "hits" your book got in the past year - so technically, you don't "lose" by having your book in a library and people being able to read it for free rather than buy a copy. How it works: PLR people select 10 libraries, across the country, to do a "sample" of. Registered authors receive a stipend per number of hits. The amount per hit depends on how much is in the coffers in any given year. This year my book was found in three of the 10 libraries, resulting in a payment of $110.25. Since I'm no longer making any money from sales of the book , this is gravy and a pleasant surprise every January (I always forget that it's coming!). 
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Carpal Tunnel
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I can remember very mediocre musicians in the twenties declaring that "canned music" was a serious threat to all musicians...In the late 80's/early 90's there was an explosion of DJ's that almost wiped out the "Wedding Band" circuit which was a large part of my income then! ...referring to his extensive collection...Dr.Bill - I have about 10 times as many reference books and printed musics than I do "recordings". tsuwm - Yes, he has! You remember clearly! As to the original post: I'm torn between a)bitching about Hollywood calling it " intellectual property" and b)bitching about Hollywood calling it "intellectual property". 
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