The recipe as a list of ingredients and instructions does not in general qualify for copyright protection.. (This does assume United States jurisdiction.) Here is a nifty quote and link for you:

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl122.html:

You would have to include more than just a standard recipe to qualify. In this case the "magazine" is clearly in violation (assuming they did not have permission) because they copied not just the recipe but the format, style, imagery and non-recipe text included in the article.

The issue here is not "owning" a copied item it is DISTRIBUTING a copyrighted item. That is the key that everyone overlooks.

In this case the verdict should be against Jammie Thomas and she should have to pay a fine for each copy distributed. All 0 of them. For a grand total of $0.00. (I don't think investigators downloading a copy of each song should count, but if they do then that is 24 distributions.)

This very much depends on jurisdiction. Most "leash laws" only to apply to certain types of animals, notably dogs. In most jurisdictions there is no requirement for "safe animals" such as cats, gerbils, hamsters and the like.

In addition, in the majority of the country such a deliberate act can turn into a cause of action by the animal's owner (including negligence charges). It can also be a crime to intentionally poison an animal as such, you can be charged with cruelty to animals in several States.

To give a concrete example from my home State: If you were to leave out a pan of anti-freeze to intentionally poison a pest and my cat were to drink it and die, the following would be possible:

*You could be charged with the class C felony cruelty to animals (as anti-freeze is a very inhumane poison and even has warnings on the label). This caries with it a hefty monetary fine (although I do not know the maximum) and up to 5 years in prison.

*You would be financially responsible for any and all vet bills. Any associated costs would also be included. *You could be sued for emotional distress. This is not a small thing, I have a friend who works at Dove Louis Animal Hospital, she has told me of incidents where a very not-nice person did something similar, was sued. The judgment against that person (in Civil court) was over one quarter of a million dollars (including vet bills).

In summary I just want to say that anyone who would do this to another living being is about as worthless as can be. That is in addition to the complete ignorance of the situation as a whole.

Looks like you have an off by one error...

LAMO! *giant grins*

I am curious how many of your posts don't include the words, "you're an idiot" in some form? Your ramblings are pretty amusing though. It reminds me of my neighbor's kid (he's in middle school) throwing a tantrum.

Quick prediction:
I will be called "an idiot" in the reply post. =P

Ahh, exactly the kind of calm and level headed debate I am used to on /..

The main difference is that the spammer never showed up to court and the medical company did. Who knows what the fine would have been if he had made any attempt to defend himself. Instead facebook made a claim saying, "This guy is bad, he owes us a billion dollars." This was followed by the judge asking if anyone objected which was followed by crickets chirping.

I entirely agree that a medical malpractice issue resulting in deaths should carry a waaaaay heftier fine than a spam case (the guy also committed fraud, identity theft, hacking). But if the medical company didn't show up to court I bet their fine would be just as large as the plaintiff asked for, even if it too was a billion dollars.

Its ok, we forgive you. But from now /. is going to require you to type in your PIN number. Not the same PIN number you use at the ATM machine though.

Tipping should really be based on locale and income laws.

Example:

In Arizona minimum wages for a waiter/waitress are something like $3 an hour. They also allow tips to be counted for "wages" for the Federal minimum wage.

In Oregon the minimum wage is $8 and tips are on top of that.

So if on average a waiter gets $5 an hour in tips at a mediocre restaurant, the guy in Arizona is making Federal minimum wage or less, while the guy in Oregon is making more on his first day then some entry level skilled job.

*Rounded whole numbers used because I am lazy. =)

Except in most jurisdictions Sony DID do something legally wrong. That is why in most of the EU, retailers selling PS3s have offered partial refunds upon request. That is just one example. Here is a link so you don't have to Google it:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/PS3-playstation-Linux-Rebate-Amazon,10140.html

Assuming US jurisdiction (and most western countries actually). If his work is floating around WITHOUT a license, then it is most certainly NOT public domain. To be in the public domain, the copyright holder must EXPLICITLY grant such a right.

If you find some random bit of source code with no license and you include it in your commercial application, you have just committed willful copyright infringement. The second you distribute, you are liable for ungodly penalties which would most likely be many times the gross sales of XYZ program (see RIAA cases for damage examples).

Congratulations for not even reading the summary. I think the analogy is quite correct along with most of the rest of the post. From the summary:

Many of Larry Niven's Known Space books talk about this type of situation. I recommend the Gil "The ARM" Hamilton short stories.

I don't know about you but I fully plan on living forever. But hey, what ever floats your boat.