Re: Request for feedback on EME Use Cases

Joe,

Yes, it has to do with what I said back in 2013. Sorry for not following up
with it then, I've been having some health issues, and have been (up till
two weeks ago) living on morphine. Yes, I was quite stoned. Legally too :)

Author Control is what the WIPO Internet Treaties
<http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/wct/> are all about. Specifically I'm
talking about Item 6, Part 1:

*Article 6*

*Right of Distribution*

(1) Authors of literary and artistic works shall enjoy the exclusive right
of authorizing the making available to the public of the original and
copies of their works through sale or other transfer of ownership.

(2) Nothing in this Treaty shall affect the freedom of Contracting Parties
to determine the conditions, if any, under which the exhaustion of the
right in paragraph (1)
<http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/text.jsp?file_id=295166#P63_6990>applies
after the first sale or other transfer of ownership of the original or a
copy of the work with the authorization of the author.5
<http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/text.jsp?file_id=295166#P65_7506>

Now I haven't been posting, but I have read a lot of the posts over the
last year or so. I didn't see any section of the standard which allows the
author to control distribution. Say I want to cut distribution - how do I
do it?

There are a variety of reasons I'm bringing this up. I know a bunch of
people who've had problems with the distributors. One found his music on
iTunes, which he had not given permission for, and was unable to get Apple
to remove it. His response, which was to release the music for free on his
website, since he wasn't getting paid, was interesting, but probably futile
because most people are used to buying from iTunes/Amazon/etc., and
probably wouldn't normally visit his site.

This is just one example - there are a variety of others, some of which
have lead to amazing court battles. From the artist's point of view,
control is a huge issue, and from my current understanding of the standard,
you are not addressing this. If someone steals your creation, you want to
be able to take action to get it offline now, rather than five years and
possibly millions of dollars in legal fees later.

I know this may not please a lot of people, but a lot of us consider Apple,
Microsoft, Adobe, Amazon, the RIAA members, the MPAA members, the big book
companies, etc. to be the enemy in this. The standard does nothing to help
us. In fact, it may make things worse.

Wayne