We can't say that we'd recommend a CEO steal property from
Google in order to prove a point, but the head honcho of Macmillan Publishers pushed his superego aside and did just that at a recent BookExpo America in NYC. It's no secret that a number of publishers have been up in arms about Google's approach to digitizing their works, but Richard Charkin went so far as to recruit a colleague and
swipe a pair of laptops from a
Google Books kiosk at the event. About an hour later, the booth attendants actually noticed the missing goods and presumably began to panic, and the haughty executive then had the nerve to return the machines to their rightful owners whilst dropping the "hope you enjoyed a taste of your own medicine" line. He justified the bizarre behavior by suggesting that "there wasn't a sign by the computers informing him not to steal them," apparently referencing Google's controversial tactics when scanning books. That'll show 'em, Mr. Charkin.
[Via
TechDirt]
posted June 7th 2007 1:32PM
I think the only point this guy managed to prove is that he himself is a moron that needs to grow up.
"Just because I do not make it available to anyone does not mean I'm free to duplicate copyrighted materials."
Annnnnnndddd we have a winner for the most inaccurate statement in a thread just full of astroturf.
In fact, and IAAL, you DO have blanket right (yes a right, the "affirmative defense" crap was a close second) to copy copyrighted content you have purchased for personal use in your home. It is one of the enumerated common-law fair use rights recognized in intellectual property law. In other words, if you were sued for violating copyright and this was your only action (ie, you didn't make it available for distribution or violate the authors rights in other ways) the lawyer filing the case would be sanctioned, as they would not have a valid legal cause to allege infringement.
Why not a "CE-Oh no he didn't! Part ..." title?
Yeah... except the thing is, the book publishers still have their books. When he took the laptops, Google no longer had the computers.
The "Intellectual" variant of propriety just isn't quite the same...
So stealing property is the same as making information public? I think one key difference is that the owners no longer have any access to their property when it gets stolen...