The key problem is that copyright infringement by a private individual is regarded by the court as something so serious that it negates the right to privacy. It’s a sign of the twisted values that copyright has succeeded on imposing on many legal systems. It equates the mere copying of a digital file with serious crimes that merit a prison sentence, an evident absurdity.
This is a good example of how copyright’s continuing obsession with ownership and control of digital material is warping the entire legal system in the EU. What was supposed to be simply a fair way of rewarding creators has resulted in a monstrous system of routine government surveillance carried out on hundreds of millions of innocent people just in case they copy a digital file.
This is so stupid since several thousand devices can use one IP address. NAT exists.
If I download music in a Starbucks, can they fine the Starbucks CEO then?
Anyway I hope I hope online artists, and authors are able to use this to sue AI companies for stealing their copyrighted works.
A good question… I suggest we all start torrenting new release movies and video games exclusively through Starbucks, because I want to know
The background is that French law requires ISPs to retain the IPs of their customer for some time. That way, an IP address can be associated with a customer.
A CEO is an employee. You generally can’t sue employees for this sort of thing. It may be possible to sue the company as a whole for enabling the copyright infringement, but that’s not to do with this case. Perhaps in the future, operators of WiFi-hotspots will be required to use something like Youtube’s Content ID system.
They can use this to go after “pirates”. It’s got nothing to do with AI.