Dear Scott,
I've just downloaded and installed Andromeda on my webserver, and i'm happy to report that its working as advertised. People like you make dynamic web a no-brainer. Thanks and congratulations.
What i am concerned with are the copyright issues surrounding Andromeda. Have you done any research concerning the legality of streaming/broadcasting copyrighted work for non-commercial purposes? For example, i'm currently streaming a couple of Robin Williams CD tracks. I obtained the MP3s from original CDs that i purchased. Does my current action of streaming them in any way breach copyright law? If you have done some research into this, i would appreciate it greatly if you could share it with me.
I understand its quite a grey area: streaming audio could perhaps fall under "fair use" exceptions, and if the broadcast was coupled with some form of review or research attached to the act of streaming (e.g. a non-profit music review site), then the streaming should be legal. But reproduction/distribution through broadcasting? I'm unsure about what the law says about this and i was hoping you might be able to point me to some authoritative references.
Lastly, i'm sure you've thought about this and you may have posted the answer on the andromeda site, but forgive me for asking anyway. How do i make it impossible for users to download the whole MP3 directly off my server? For example, i've placed all my MP3s in a folder called "audio" and this is the same folder where andromeda.php resides. A person who knows the exact URL of the MP3 file could download it in its entirety, bypassing Andromeda. This would result in a copyright infringement. I hope you will be able to advise me on how to protect the files in the "audio" folder from improper download.
Thank you so much for your assistance. I look forward to your reply. Take care, God bless.
Current research findings are as below:
[For more info on Andromeda]
http://www.shift.com/content/web/390/1.html
http://radio.about.com/library/weekly/aa020803a.htm
http://freshmeat.net/projects/andromeda/?topic_id=251%2C92%2C93%2C243%2C122
[Fair Use Copyright Exemptions]
http://www.lib.auburn.edu/madd/copyright/fair_use.html
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copyright.html
[Malaysian Copyright Law]
http://www.lawyerment.com.my/intellectual/copyright.shtml
http://www.bileta.ac.uk/00papers/madieha.html
Current Exemptions under the Copyright Act 1987 (Malaysia)
Unlike the US legislation that contains an open-ended fair use scheme, Malaysia has opted for a closed set of specific exceptions, which is similar to the approach to other common law countries. Under the Copyright Act 1987, several specific exclusions can be found. The general fair dealing section can be found in subsection (a)(2) of section 13. Other types of exclusions to excuse other forms of educational use are also in existence. Below is a list of the exceptions:
5.1 fair dealing for the specified purpose.
s 13(2)(a) provides:
the doing of any of the acts referred to in subsection (1) by way of fair dealing for purposes of non profit research, private study, criticism, review or the reporting of current events, subject to the condition that if such use is public, it is accompanied by an acknowledgement of the title of the work and its authorship, except where the work is in connection with the doing of any of such acts for the purposes of non-profit research, private study and the reporting of current events by means of a sound recording, film or broadcast.
What are the most important areas of "fair dealing" for broadcasters? (http://www.nz-copyright-board.org.nz/faq.html)
(i) for the purposes of criticism and review,
(ii) for the purpose of reporting current events.
What is "criticism and review'?
The phrase used in many copyright acts in relation to fair dealing is: "criticism and review of that work or of any other work". This means that a book review programme, for example, could use quotations from a book while evaluating that book or in comparing it with another work without infringing copyright. A musical programme, which sets out to review a symphonic work, could include excerpts from the work and could also compare sections of it with passages from other works. A review of a play could contain excerpts from the play reviewed and these excerpts could be compared with excerpts from a novel, for example, on which the play was based.
In the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Singapore, it is necessary when using works for the purpose of "criticism or review" to make "sufficient acknowledgement". This simply means that the title of the work and the author's name must be given. In India, and under the Papua New Guinea Copyright Act, no acknowledgement needs to be made. The Malaysia Copyright Act does not require an acknowledgement where the work is "incidentally included in a broadcast".
It has been noted that what constitutes "fair dealing" depends on the circumstances of each case. However, in the United Kingdom the Society of Authors and the Publishers Association have jointly agreed, for the sake of convenience, what they regard as fair dealing with a literary work for the purposes of criticism or review. They suggest that a single extract of 400 words or a series of extracts (of which none exceeds 300 words) to a total of 800 words in the case of a prose work, or any extracts up to a total of 40 lines or 25% of a poem would be "fair dealing". This suggestion has legal sanction only in Pakistan and Bangladesh, where it has been incorporated into copyright legislation. Extracts so limited may be deemed to be "fair dealing". However, it is a useful "rule of thumb" for broadcasters in other countries.
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