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Some places in the world, there's no exemption for non-commercial copyright infringement. A grandmother sending an old wedding picture (without a copyright release) to her grandchild is liable for up to $73,500 and 5 years of jail in Australia.

Also, the police have the potential to bring up non-commercial copyright infringement and seize all electronics. And I mean everything that has a CPU/RAM/etc.



There's no non-commercial argument (or fair use rights) in the uk either.

A school for example could have licenses for a TV program do be played in a lesson but if the soundtrack includes music then they can be in breach of copyright in those songs ... if you're listening to a radio at work and someone else overhears it then it's considered to be an unlawful performance and you can be given a hefty fine (the PRS, as it was, did over several police forces on this one). You can buy a license of course for only a few hundred pounds (yes to listen to advertising-paid radio or even the BBC).

UK have been considering making format shifting legal though. We'll finally be able to legally watch a movie we bought on a mobil device then; as long as you watch it alone and no-one hears the soundtrack or looks over your shoulder at the screen ...


Am I right to say there's no no-commercial argument in the UK; but copyright infringement without trading means the rights owners get to sue for loss of earnings, whereas copyright infringement as part of trading means the police (or some other body) gets involved.

UK "Fair Dealing" (Fair Use) is much stricter than the US equivalent.




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