An anonymous reader writes:
After contempalating several of the articles here,
I have come to the conclusion that some of the more absurd copyright
attempts, may provide the kernel of the solution to some of the
problems that we are having with privacy.
Specifically attach a EULA to your property.
Continued
Claiming continued possession of the copyright to a
statue that was
paid for with public funds and displayed in a public commons is
absurd. (Though the politicians who commission such public works
should be charged with the task of securing the artist's transmition
of his work to the public domain.)
Likewise, trying to enforce a recent copyright on a
dance that has
been around for many years, and was incorporated into a number of
films long ago is closing the barn door after the horse is out.
But creating an original work of art, either a statue that you place
in your yard, or a painting on the outside walls of
your house, and, keeping these works on your private property, and
posting copyright notices where they can be plainly seen, should
constitute a reasonable and legally enforcible copyright.
Which means, that by deploying enough works about your property,
it should be possible to make it effectively impossible to
legally
photograph it.
Imagine a house surrounded with one to two dozen such statues,
and the following license posted at reasonable intervales about the
property's perimeter.
This property, its buildings, artwork, landscaping, and signs are
copyright _date_ by _property_owner_.
Further, the motions, or lack there of (in the case of
lying, sitting, or standing around) by the owner, the owner's family, and
the owner's guests while on this property,
constitute a dance copyrighted by the above named owner.
By photographing, drawing, filming or otherwise capturing image(s)
still or moving, of any or all of the above listed copyrighted works,
or by receiving modified, or unmodified originals or copies
or other derivatives of these
images created under this license, you agree to the following terms:
A) This license applies to all PROTECTED WORKS derived from the above
listed copyrighted works.
These PROTECTED WORKS include all original, still image(s)
of any or all of the above listed copyrighted works,
created using any technique, media, or technology.
These PROTECTED WORKS also include a seconds worth of a moving image,
created using any technique, media, or technology.
When more or less than a second of moving image is captured as part
of a shot, then the total amount of time of the shot shall be
rounded up to the nearest second, and each such second shall count as
one PROTECTED WORK.
These PROTECTED WORKS also include any modified, or unmodified copies
or other derivatives of one or more of the PROTECTED WORKS.
In the case where a modified, or unmodified copy or derived work is
a moving image, then the total amount of time of the shot shall be
rounded up to the nearest second, and each such second shall count as
one PROTECTED WORK.
B) You agree to pay the owner the sum of 1,000,000 USD for each of the events
listed below, when payment is made in advance of the event.
Should you inadvertently, or intentionally fail to pay for an event in
advance of it's occurrence, then
you agree to pay the owner the sum of 10,000,000 USD for each of the events
listed below that is payed for after the event and without prompting by the
owner.
Should your delay in making a payment extend to the point that the owner
is obliged to advise you of the need to make a payment, then
you agree to pay the owner the sum of 100,000,000 USD for each of the events
listed below that is payed for after the event and that the owner is forced to
request payment for.
Should you refuse to make a payment, even after having been advised of the
need to make a payment, then
you agree to pay the owner the sum of 1,000,000,000 USD plus the owner's
costs for litigation, for each of the events
listed below, when the event's payment is made only in responce to litigation.
C) The events, each of which requires an individual payment as listed above,
are:
- Any initial capture of a PROTECTED WORK.
- Creating a PROTECTED WORK by making an identical copy, a modified copy,
or a derived work either using the original technique(s), media(s),
or technology(ies), or using one or more different technique(s), media(s),
or technology(ies).
- Any transfer of a PROTECTED WORK over an electronic network, either
wired or unwired.
- Any transfer of a PROTECTED WORK to another individual, company,
or organization either for compensation or gratis.
D) When, one or more PROTECTED WORK(S) is/are transfered to another
individual, company, or organization you agree to present a copy of this
license to that individual, or a responsible representative of the company,
or organization prior to the transfer of the PROTECTED WORK(S) so that
they may accept the terms of this license before receiving the
PROTECTED WORK(S).
E) Should you fail to present the license before transferring the protected
work then you agree:
- to work to inform the recipient of the PROTECTED WORK(S) of their
obligations under this license as soon as possible;
and likewise (if the recipient transfered
PROTECTED WORK(S) to others) to inform any subsequent
recipients of the PROTECTED WORK(S) of this license and their obligations
under it as soon as possible.
- to pay for any events effected by the recipient and any subsequent
recipients of the PROTECTED WORK(S) prior to your notification
to them of this license and their obligations under it.
F) Those who receive notification or otherwise become aware of the
applicability of this license, after receiving one or
more PROTECTED WORK(S), may comply with this license by operating under
its terms from the time of notification onward, or they may immediately
destroy all of the PROTECTED WORKS(S) in their possession.
Delay in the destruction of the PROTECTED WORKS, or performance of one
of the above defined events after notification of the existence and
applicability of this license constitutes, acceptance of the terms of
this license.
G) You agree to keep scrupulous, and auditable accounting of the time
and nature of each of the above defined events which occur to any
and all of the PROTECTED WORK(S).
You agree to present to the owner, upon his request, this accounting
in its entirety so that it may be reviewed.
In the event that there is any uncertainty as to how many events
have occurred, then you agree to accept and pay for the copyright owner's
best estimate as to the correct number of events.
H) You agree upon the owner's request to transmit a copy of all
PROTECTED WORK(S) currently in your possession. No payments will
be required to support the events needed to fullfill these requests.
I) You agree upon the owner's request to transmit to the owner
a list of all of the individuals, companies, and organizations to
which you have transmitted PROTECTED WORK(S).
J) Terms differing from the above may be granted upon request,
contact _phone_number_and/or_address_ for more information.
NB: If the posted notices are implemented as black letters over
an original work of art done in pastels, then even photographing
the notices will constitute an event that will trigger the license.
Obviously, this is not a contract designed to encourage acceptance
by the sentient^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hsapient, but that is the point.
For a variety of reasons, unless you are in public office,
they should have no right to photograph
you or your property without first securing your permition
(hence the last paragraph of the license)
or a warrent.
The main problem with this, is that I can forsee
the companies wiggling to make sure it affects the employees more
than the company or its directors.
So the company will deny wanting or using the photo,
while leaving you to bankrupt the employee.
Considering that the latter are lying about their authority to
take the pictures, the second half of this does not bother me
as much as it might, but the problem will not be even minimally
solved until the company directs its employees to avoid protected
houses.
IANAL, so I must ask some questions of those who are:
Would writing to the CEO and the Board of Directors with a
license similar to the above but stating that if they send an
employee to photograph your house, (or maintain a photograph
already obtained) that they agree to be responsible for the proper
execution of the license both personally and corporately be effective?
And regarding Google, would painting © _year_ _uri_ on
my roof,
where _uri_ is a web address containing the above license
and an explanation that said license applies to the house and the
property on which it is situated serve to keep me off of their
maps?
Or would it be better to write to their incorruptible founders?
Perhaps some lawyer can clean up the above license and post it
and instructions to its proper use on a website and then post
the site here.
Let me apologize for the length of this post.
By way of explanation, let me point out that it is difficult for us
ACs to post things to our own websites.
Besides, if I had, someone would complain that I was just trying to
get more hits.
