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The court will say "OK you embedded a YouTube video that was copyrighted and made $2500 or more from advertisements so yes you have broken this new law". The court will only decide if a blogger has met all the requirements of this new law. If they have, and millions have, then they will be guilty of a felony. No matter if they get the least possible punishment that is still a felony!

Even if someone is found innocent they will still have paid thousands of dollars to defend themselves!

I don't trust courts to be just. The time I had to deal with a judge in court I was not treated fairly and was presumed guilty. Therefore, please don't tell me the courts will determine a fair and just outcome.

Judges and the court system are just a bunch of disconnected old people who you hope to never have to deal with.



Another twist: what if the >$2500 profit was unintentional? Not a stupid question.

I once posted an AP photo on my website. Just a minor "fair use" thing for a few friends. Longer story short: within hours, DrudgeReport.com linked to it, AP lawyers threatened me, and traffic was so heavy I couldn't even access my own website to remove the pic. Had I adwords or some such to generate a few measly dollars to offset pocket-change costs, and rendered the image as a video instead (sensible for the content) the sudden attention could have easily generated a felony-inducing profit.

Unintended consequences indeed.




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