"
"
Bruce Willis is, according to sources, considering legal action against Apple to ensure his offspring inherit his iTunes music collection. But the law isn’t fully understood, and the story not exactly watertight.The Daily Mail claims Willis want to leave his huge digital music collection, built up over many years, to his daughters. However, and I quote, he has discovered he “does not actually own the tracks but is instead ‘borrowing’ them under a licence.” Willis is said to be considering a number of legal options, including establishing a family trust, and supporting existing legal challenges in five U.S. states related to the issue.
The law seems to be confused on this score, or perhaps it;s just the people reading up on it. The newspaper quotes a solicitor as saying, “Lots of people will be surprised on learning all those tracks and books they have bought over the years don’t actually belong to them. It’s only natural you would want to pass them on to a loved one. The law will catch up, but ideally Apple and the like will update their policies and work out the best solution for their customers.” But commenters across the Web have different ideas about the situation.
This all points to an ambiguity that needs to be rectified in no uncertain terms. Consumers of all kinds, right down to mainstream technophobes should be made aware of the true extent of their ownership over digital content. Even physical media doesn’t escape untouched, as evidenced by the video games industry. Publishers hate the used game industry and argue that selling a game on is illegal due to the actual content on the disc being copyrighted.
I very much doubt whether Willis is going to be the champion of consumer rights some are making him out to be, but this story, however legitimate or not it is, should at least start the conversational ball rolling. The law needs to be made clearer and less ambiguous, as digital content is only going to grow in popularity from this moment on.
0 comments:
إرسال تعليق