[LINK] A Definition Of Piracy In The Digital Age

[Chris Gilbey]

I was interested to read the following conceptual juxtaposition... Post
reference is: Re: [LINK] The once and future e-book: on reading in the
digital age 

though it is slightly off topic, I think that it raises a question that I am
interested in hearing some responses on from this group. Hence the new
Subject...

snip
<I suspect for ebooks it will be pirated university
texts and the ability to cart around a whole library.
As for the environment, I tend to buy books second hand, indeed only buy new
books as gifts. Recycled electrons on my palm or iPhone would be even
Friendlier.>

Would you say that a book that has been shared electronically at no profit
to the sharer (nor to the original creator) is a pirate copy, but a copy
that was physically published, sold, and then re-sold at a profit by the
reseller, but with no part of the profit being distributed to the author, is
not a pirate copy?

This is what I think is assumed in the thread. And I believe that this
interpretation of ³piracy² is now believed by a lot of people.

By the way there is an article about the future of books in a googleized
world at http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22281 that may be of interest.

But the big question is what constitutes piracy now in the digital content
space?

Is it the free sharing of content by one person to another through a social
network or by burning a disc?
Or is it only the replication of content for financial reward ­ such as the
replication of DVD¹s or CD¹s for sale?
What about the recording of a live concert for personal consumption ­ or for
sharing as above?
At what point in the process does the use of content become piracy?
For instance, if I embed a piece of YouTube content on my blog that is a
song, should I be paying a fee for that?
If I embed 20 pieces of musical content on a fan website surrounded by
google ads, should I be paying a fee for that?
What about a snippet from a movie that is on YouTube?

Bear in mind that YouTube has arrangements with all the major content
companies now and pays them fees for the use of the content (notwithstanding
the fact that Warners have dropped out of the arrangement to renegotiate
terms). 

Interested in hearing your views...

Regards

Chris Gilbey