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December 10, 2004

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Copying rights

The SCMP:

Modifying game players like X-Box and PlayStation II to run pirated discs and renting out movies may become criminal offences under proposals unveiled by the government yesterday to close loopholes in the Copyright Ordinance...

Film rental operators may also be held criminally liable if they fail to pay a fee to or seek permission from copyright owners, provided the owners are granted exclusive rental rights under the proposal.

Officials said the movie industry was unhappy about rental operators that charge much less than the cost of cinema ticket or disc. If the rights are confirmed, rental charges are expected to surge.

An analogy is in order: when you rent a flat, do you pay any additional fee to the original building developer, the builder, the architect? Dind't think so. Once the flat is sold the new owner has all rights to that property. I am ready to hear why a film rental is any different. Once the copyright owner has sold a copy of that film, why can that new owner be stopped from renting it out? Copyright fees are not annuities...yet. I'll bet the movie industry is unhappy about rental operators that charge much less than the cost of cinema tickets or dsics. That's the free market in action. So long as the rented movies and discs were legitimately bought in the first place I cannot see how the original copyright owner has any claim over the property once it's sold.

Or is HK giving up on private property rights? How ironic as China embraces them HK is going all Communist on us.

 posted by Simon on 12.10.04 at 10:03 AM in the




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