Dan Gross

Not only that, but, more importantly, HBO has acquired the right to broadcast said show. Let's put it another way, BF. You are saying that, if someone gives you a car, you have a legal right to own the car, regardless of whether that person had obtained the car legally or stole the car. Correct?

As long as he acquires the DVD's through legal means. If it's a broadcast where someone has paid to broadcast it (anything you see on TV), or otherwise obtained the rights to broadcast (some independents will give away the rights to gain exposure to their work), or if it's something in the public domain, then yes. But an illegal internet broadcast? No.

Making a copy of a broadcast for later viewing is "fair use." That's what pretty much resulted from the "Betamax" case. Once you start making copies and distributing (or broadcasting), that's when you start breaking the law. Try to understand the law before you spout it...

...and this is completely ignoring the fact that he attacked the wrong fan. Nobody is arguing that there aren't varying levels of theft, just as there are varying degrees of assault, but theft of copyrighted works is a felony.

Fez, read this: http://www.publaw.com/parody.html It covers parody pretty well, using the 2 Live Crew/Roy Orbison court battle as an example.

Actually, "derivative works" deals with the right of the copyright owner to modify their original work. Parodies are more or less managed under "fair use" laws, as they do not exactly copy the copyrighted material and are provided as a social commentary on the material. The BangHaha cartoons are parody, and it doesn't actually use the voices and likenesses of the people involved, so it is "fair use." Whether they are liable for libel in some of the things they do is a subject for another debate. This situation is more akin to the "sampling," as it relates not to copyrights on "written works," but performance rights of a recorded version of said works. Remember the broadcast itself is copyright, and the NFL copyright notice clearly indicates that rebroadcast of portions without consent is prohibited.

I take it you haven't seen the people who are actually going around the filter and typing stevestojan in to keep it alive? Here are some more fun ones: irregardless is not a word, regardless of what you say. McGahee and Shelton complement each other on the field, for which McGahee often compliments Shelton. As mentioned in another thread, Butch Davis resigned from Cleveland, while the Bills re-signed Schobel this year.

Okay, yes, you can sue anyone for anything. But I think Steve's implication (and my responding implication) is that the suit would be a "cease and desist" order rather than a damage order. Companies tried that with VCR's and failed because of "fair use." Sure you could sue for $$$, and may get a settlement that the company might consider cheaper than pursuing (both from a financial and, again, face, perspective), but you can't expect to block production of something that can be used both legally and illegally, as really just about anything can be used illegally....like plastic cups, for instance.

Technically making such copies are illegal. But a company has to measure whether to go after somene based on how much they "lost" over the deal and how much they could gain/lose from pursuing it. Just because you can figure out that someone is doing something illegal doesn't mean that you go after them. You have to pick your battles or risk losing money (and face) in chasing them down. A good example is the speed limit. It's posted at 55. A cop clocks you doing 57. Is he going to chase you down to give you a ticket (pending he sees no other issues in your driving)? No. We all know that generally a cop won't bother with you if you stay within 10 (conservatively) or 15 (pretty much true in NYS) MPH of the speed limit, because it is not worth the hassles...and so when you are driving you get frustrated when you get behind someone who is driving the speed limit. The same goes for making copies of games. If you are providing copies in the "handfuls" and are only charging for your costs, it hardly seems worth it for the NFL to "clamp down" on your pirating, especially since they don't offer every game for re-sale. But, if you put together your own highlight reel with accompanying soundtrack, and broadcast it on the web, you bet they will chase you down (as they did to a member of the Zone).

The same could be said for VCRs, cassette recorders, CD writers, etc. The movie industries even went to court to attempt to block the sale of VCR's. But, in the end, all the industry could do was try to block illegal copying though copy-prevention techniques (MacroVision, for example...). The bottom line is that you can't sue a manufacturer for making something that has a legal use, even if you can use it illegally. If I use a gun to shoot someone, can the victim (or his family) sue Smith and Wesson for making a gun that can be used to shoot someone?

Yea, you come too are cuntry, you speak are langage.

I guess she forgot to put the [/sarcasm] in the subject line...

Heh, read 'em and weep, rook! 4/5/89! http://groups.google.com/groups?q=%22Dan+G...%40PSUVM&rnum=6

billsfanone. Holy stevestojan!

Each team has it's own report, and for the Bills that's good old "Mark Weiler." I can't imagine he actually gets paid to write that crap. He's supposedly the !@#$ "beat reporter." He's just a hack without an ounce of professionalism in his body. He never liked the McGahee pick, thought it was a big mistake, and absolutely has it in for Donahoe and Bledsoe.

...and we might have actually won the division at some point, seeing how Cleveland and Cin have been playing...

But you do....well, not you, but the other you....

Sober Santa (got into the 800's my first try...).

You're saying he "developed" in practice? I thought the only place you can develop was on the field?

Canton, Massachusetts?

Isn't that where the USFL hall of fame is? I know the NFL one is in Akron, OH....right Mr. Wilson?

You are such an R. Rich!

In which case you have to start Rivers. They did draft him in the first round...can't let him wither on the vine...

You have to be careful, because it's a market by market thing. In the Buffalo market, for example, you need to use an OTA antenna to get the HD stations, as DIRECTV doesn't carry them....

Yeah, we spent most of our time in SF at the Orange Dog Manor. Basically it's an apartment. It's not exactly where you were looking (Parnassus area, walking distance from Golden Gate Park and Haight Ashbury), but it's a nice place, near a couple of bus stops (the mass transit, while confusing at times, is not bad in SF).