Electronic Frontier Foundation Sues Uri Geller 240
reversible physicist writes "The Electronic Frontier Foundation has sued spoon-bender Uri Geller for using 'baseless copyright claims' to silence critics who question his paranormal powers. Brian Sapient posted on YouTube a 14-minute excerpt from the 1993 PBS NOVA program 'Secrets of the Psychics,' in which skeptic James Randi says Geller's spoon-bending feats were simple tricks. YouTube took down the video after Geller complained — his lawyers claim that 10 seconds of the video are owned by Geller. A shorter excerpt of the video is still up on YouTube."
More on this.... (Score:5, Informative)
Randi has full videos (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.randi.org/uri/index.html [randi.org]
Uri Geller's Show in Israel (Score:5, Informative)
Uri Geller is a joke on youtube [youtube.com]
it should give you a proof or so just search there : Uri Geller.
Re:More on this.... (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2007_05.php#0052
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/sapient_v_geller/ [eff.org]
Re:The Amazing Randi (Score:4, Informative)
So if these 10 seconds happened to be the most amazing trick ever and would be the sole reason that people would buy his videos, and you used only those 10 seconds without any commentary at all, then there's a possibility it wouldn;t be fair use.
Re:More on this.... (Score:3, Informative)
Not just Randi.... (Score:5, Informative)
You could stand to watch more Geller (Score:3, Informative)
The worst is that he does NOT own the copyright (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Geller is in the UK (Score:5, Informative)
Well, first of all I am also a UK citizen.
Now, as to your main point, whilst I agree with the main thrust, I think that you may have missed the key point. I think we all agree that if Uri Geller owns some copyright in some material and someone in the USA breaches that copyright in some way which doesn't constitute fair use then Geller can in principle sue them in the US courts for breach of copyright, but that is not the situation under debate.
The Bern convention does not extend copyright transnationaly in quite the way you are perhaps implying (i.e. completely equal rules everywhere). It lays down certain minimal requirements, but the details vary from country to country. The UK and USA are both signatories, but never the less there are differences in what is protected. Examples include the period of protection (50 years for music in the UK, significantly longer in the USA) and what exactly is defined as 'fair use' (in this latter case US rules seem to be rather less stringent). I agree however that Geller probably has the same right to sue in the USA as US citizens have.
But the key point here is that Geller is not suing anyone. He issued a DMCA takedown notice. A concept which I don't believe the Bern convention addresses at all. It may well be that anyone in the world is allowed to issue such a notice in the USA, but the presence of the Bern convention doesn't demonstrate that this is necessarily the case, hence my question. I suggest that it would be perfectly legal for the USA or any other country to have a DMCA like law which says "Only our citizens may issue takedown notices" without any fear of breaching the terms of the Bern convention, because those who were not citizens would still be able to exercise their Bern rights by initiating a conventional suit for copyright infringement.
On your final point, it has been discussed here on many previous occasions that extradition law only applies to criminal cases and not civil ones such as this. Hence my suggestion that breaching an injunction may be a criminal act (I don't know, IANAL) capable of invoking extradition proceedings.
Re:They're just jealous but (Score:3, Informative)
Re:More on this.... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:More on this.... (Score:3, Informative)
Have you even _read_ what the Koran says? The Koran is corrupted just as much as the Bible.
* "Slay them wherever you find them...Idolatry is worse than carnage...Fight against them until idolatry is no more and God's religion reigns supreme." (Surah 2:190-)
* "Fighting is obligatory for you, much as you dislike it." (Surah 2:216)
* "Seek out your enemies relentlessly." (Surah 4:103-)
* "The Jews and Christians say: 'We are the children of God and His loved ones.' Say: 'Why then does He punish you for your sins?" (Surah 5:18)
* "Believers, take neither Jews nor Christians for your friends." (Surah 5:51)
* "Make war on them until idolatry shall cease and God's religion shall reign supreme." (Surah 8:36-)
* "...make war on the leaders of unbelief...Make war on them: God will chastise them at your hands and humble them. He will grant you victory over them..." (Surah 9:12-)
* "It is He who has sent forth His apostle with guidance and the true Faith [Islam] to make it triumphant over all religions, however much the idolaters [non-Muslims] may dislike it." (Surah 9:31-)
* "If you do not fight, He will punish you sternly, and replace you by other men." (Surah 9:37-)
* "Prophet make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal rigorously with them. Hell shall be their home." (Surah 9:73)
* "Believers, make war on the infidels who dwell around you. Deal firmly with them." (Surah 9:121-)
* And the reward for those who kill those who are not Muslim: "Shall the reward of goodness be anything but good?...Dark-eyed virgins sheltered in their tents...They shall recline on green cushions and fine carpets...Blessed be the name of your Lord..." (Surah 55:52-66-)