"John Zulauf" <johnzu@ia.nsc.com> Sent by: owner-dvd-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu
04/09/2003 09:25 AM
Please respond to dvd-discuss
To: dvd-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu
cc:
Subject: Re: [dvd-discuss] Re: Another Poster Child for DeCSS?
microlenz@earthlink.net wrote:
>
> Shrinkwrap?....and how can a legal contract be made involving illegal acts.
> Works in the PD are everyones. DRM removes this work from those purchasing it
> now and in resale. As PD "I" own the work. The have reformated it and I have
> paid for that. They deserve nothing more. Now I attempt to reclaim my work and
> cannot. This is fraud. Although only a tortured sado-masochistic contracts
> expert might revel in the nuances here regarding "OH...they signed away their
> rights...rights which can never be signed away" PD is PUBLIC DOMAIN.
>
I spoke to one our company lawyers. What he said was "lawyers get to
lie" -- if they can find an *arguement* (valid or not) to defend their
position, they can assert any rights they want. The *purchaser* then
would have to show in court that the claims are invalid. But, since it
takes a court to determine the validity of the claim, the lawyer can
state almost anything, because until the court rules, the law is just
"Schroedinger's cat" -- and any claim about it's quantum state is
equally valid.
My follow-up was what about areas that have been litigated. The seller
can always claim that they *could* possibly win (overturning precedent
is possible) and thus the shrink-wrap claims go back in the box with
Schroedinger's cat.