Sharman Kazaa uses ancient law in copyright defenc

method77 · May 25, 2004

CONTROVERSIAL P2P MAIN-MEN Sharman License Holdings is defending its massive hub from copyright infringement charges with a 100 year old precedent.

Sharman's lawyer, JR Elliot, is using a case from 1899 for Sharman's defence. The Boosey v. Whight case of 1899 was about copyright charges being pressed on the production of pianola rolls. However, the court found that reproduction of pianola rolls did not infringe English copyright laws, which protected sheet music.

As ZDNet Australia says, Sharman lawyers are planning on using a similar defence case to that of the hundred-year-old-pirates. The original defence back in 1899 was: "to play an instrument from a sheet of music which appears to the eye is one thing; to play an instrument with a perforated sheet which itself forms part of the mechanism which produces the music is quite another thing."

JR Elliot also makes a strong point about Sharman not being the company uploading music, it's the users ? who could be from literally anywhere in the world with an internet connection. According to Australian law, the uploader has to be in Australia for it to be an infringement.

The Universal Music party has been instructed by the court to issue Sharman with the specifics of their infringement allegations, with notification required on Friday. Both parties will return to court on the 1st of July

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