Mobile/PDA About Us Advertise here


		User name	Password

		Not registered yet? Register here. Lost your password? Click here.

Browse by topic

News

Police target Polish subtitle archive

19 May 2007 6:08 by James "Dela" Delahunty | 3 comments

In a nice reminder from the entertainment industry that a lot more than just a motion picture itself is subject to copyright, German and Polish police have arrested several administrators and translators for a popular Polish site that offers user-generated subtitles. Napisy.org was the target of the Police raid and several computers were seized as part of the investigation.

The administrators have been charged with copyright infringement, even though apparently it was the site's users that did the translations. Under Polish law, translators need permission from content providers before working on copyright material. The head of napisy.org claims that "the idea of the service is noncommercial" and may fall under some fair use rights.

There is good reason for Polish subtitles to be translated and offered like this; many official Polish translations don't become available until months after a major film has been released and some users simply don't want to have to wait that long. The downloaded subtitles can be played back when paired with a DVDRip which can of course come from a legitimate source but the movie industry will probably not acknowledge that fact.

The claim will soon be tested in court.

Source:
Ars Technica

Permalink to this article

« Previous news article
Nintendo dominates April

Next news article »
Copyright Alliance hopes to strengthen copyright laws

Post your comment

Discuss this article!
borhan9 (AfterDawn Addict) 19 May 2007 17:06
This is going a bit too far don't you think. Suing because of subtitle creation come on this is absurd. [ + quote]
Unfocused (Member) 22 May 2007 17:23
They are just pushing this as far as they can. When will it end? Could I be sued for discussing this week�s episode of Sopranos with a co worker? [ + quote]
z9999 (Newbie) 27 May 2007 18:22
This is just another problem the MPAA faces in trying to recover from near bankruptcy, isn't it? [ + quote]