It is now legal to file share in Canada

[hunterx]

Just to clear some things up. In canada there is a levy or tax they pay for blank cds which implicitly allows the downloading of music. What it does not allow is uploading of music. So the greedy bastards went to court to sue people with music in their shared folders and the judge said no way.

WHen you download music it goes into your shared folder which happens to be available for everyone else to download from. You're not doing anything wrong when somebody accesses your shared folder to download music that you downloaded legally. You didn't distribute it, you didn't annouce to anyone that it was there and you took no part in distribution.

In other words in their greediness to tax blank cds they left a big hole in the law. A couple of days ago a few of the canadian ministers vowed to fix that flawed copyright bill.

[Mr_Paper]

Originally Posted by Warsmith

This ruling alows the fan subs that you enjoy to be created, without fear of legal action being taken against the fan subbers who create them. So if this ruling bothers you that much, stop downloading said fan subs. Wait for it to come out on DVD and watch it well after I have enjoyed the program. I do not advocate piracy in any way, so as long as fan subbers DO NOT charge money for what they do, or rip off the licensed and protected works ( piracy is illegal ), we can enjoy a product now instead of waiting and waiting for it to show up on our shelves. The ruling also means that the fan subs that we enjoy do not have to be removed from the net after it has been licensed and can be downloaded for personal use.

That ruling has nothing to do with fansubs, it was only in regards to MP3s.
The ruling states that it is not illegal to share MP3s, a ruling stating fansubs
were legal would violate every international copyright treaty the country has
signed. Fansubs and MP3s are two completely different things. Fansubs are
still 100% illegal, everywhere in the world... except in Taiwan (they haven't
signed any of the agreements).

Just so you know, video piracy does not require you to sell a copy of the
product. Simply copying and/or sharing (cost free) is still illegal. Furthermore,
fansubbing in and of itself is the act of ripping off licensed and protected
works. Lastly, you should not assume Canadian law applies to the internet,
specifically it applies to in home usage. Just because it is currently legal to
share MP3s in Canada does not give a Canadian the right to share the MP3s
with someone from another nation were it is illegal to share MP3s.

Do not assume MP3s and Fansubs are the same thing.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Mr_Paper

Just because it is currently legal to share MP3s in Canada does not give a Canadian the right to share the MP3s with someone from another nation were it is illegal to share MP3s.

Just one thing for the sake of clarity though - it is illegal to distribute MP3s of copywritten music in Canada. The ruling does not make file sharing legal in Canada, contrary to the topic of this thread. In Canada, what is illegal is distributing music - intentionally sharing copywritten music (and thus distributing it) is illegal. As hunterx has said, this ruling simply (and rightfully, IMO) says that just having files in a shared folder is not automatically proof enough of intent to distribute. In other words, the ISPs are not obliged to give personal information to the CRIA, because there's not enough proof that something illegal is taking place. Judges don't make laws, they enforce laws, and IMO this judge's interpretation makes sense. You can only distribute something if you know you are doing it - it is an action. Think about what happened in the US with some of the much-publicized RIAA lawsuits - some people had no idea they were sharing music at all. Under American law, what they did is still illegal, but in Canada they did not commit the act of distribution (according to this ruling). Doesn't that at least make some amount of sense given what has been stated about Canadian law?

Originally Posted by Mr_Paper

I personally agree with microlith, that ruling should be recanted and appealled.

This may all seem like semantics, but it is not - the Canadian law says it is only illegal to distribute. As soon as the CRIA finds another way of demonstrating proof of intent to distribute, you can bet the lawsuits will follow. Another thing that may happen is that the laws may change (depending on the timing and outcome of the pending election). More curiously, how this ruling would affect software like BitTorrent is questionable at best. This ruling exposes a weakness in the current law in terms of its ability to reflect current trends - Parliament should rightfully be the ones to address those concerns, not a judge. Unless you are arguing that the ruling is not an accurate representation of Canadian law (is that what you are arguing? Is simply having a file in a shared folder proof of intent to distribute?) then it is the law that should be changed, not the ruling overturned.

I think I agree, though, with most of your main point about music and fansubs being two seperate matters. While there are some similarities (Canadians can record a copy of TV programs for personal use, just like music), the International laws and treaties ultimately apply.