Because people seem to completely ignore my posts and continue to believe alarmist blogs, here's the bill:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s112-978 Don't understand it? Here's what it says:
SECTION 1. CRIMINAL INFRINGEMENT OF A COPYRIGHT.
(a) Amendments to Section 2319 of Title 18- Section 2319 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)--
We're changing Section 2319 of Title 18 in subsection (b).
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; and
We're moving (2) and (3) over to (3) and (4)
(B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
We're putting this after paragraph (1).
‘(2) shall be imprisoned not more than 5 years, fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, if--
You could be punished with 5 years or less and/or fined if you... (Please note that the paragraph (1) is just about the exact same thing, but with 10 copies, not 10 public performances)
‘(A) the offense consists of 10 or more public performances by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copyrighted works; and...
Steal someone's stuff and perform it publicly 10 times within 180 days and...
‘(B)(i) the total retail value of the performances, or the total economic value of such public performances to the infringer or to the copyright owner, would exceed $2,500; or
If the value of said stuff is more than $2500 or...
‘(ii) the total fair market value of licenses to offer performances of those works would exceed $5,000;’; and
If it would cost more than $5000 to license such stuff.
(2) in subsection (f), by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:
‘(2) the terms ‘reproduction’, ‘distribution’, and ‘public performance’ refer to the exclusive rights of a copyright owner under clauses (1), (3), (4), and (6), respectively of section 106 (relating to exclusive rights in copyrighted works), as limited by sections 107 through 122, of title 17;’.
We're changing subsection (f)'s paragraph (2) and changing it to this. (The paragraph being changed already says most of this, this would just change it to add public performance.
(b) Amendment to Section 506 of Title 17- Section 506(a) of title 17, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)(C), by inserting ‘or public performance’ after ‘distribution’ the first place it appears; and
(2) in paragraph (3)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘or public performance’ after ‘unauthorized distribution’; and
(B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘or public performance’ after ‘distribution’.
We're changing other bits to reflect the other changes in this bill.
See? not that bad. What we should do is ask exactly what is 1 public performance. Right now it's so vague that it could mean anything, from 1 youtube video to 1 view. I doubt it would be the latter, but it would be nice to know. Note that this law still includes fair use. A Let's Play type video most likely falls under fair use. If it didn't, they would be removed from youtube before this bill. This falls under fair use:
A Let's Play should as well.
