$125,000 in fines for D&D pirates? Help me do the math...

[GMforPowergamers]

1 week before 4e launch a guy I game with had all 3 books in pdf...the day PHB2 came out he had that.

Tommoro primal power came out and E3, and he plans to have them by then end of next month, infact he complains that it now takes 2-5 weeks to find 'good' 'full' copies of the book. He also bought his 1st 4e book this weekend.

He bought Adventures Vault 2, becuse he wants the Art, and he said all the copies he can find to download are with the pic pages removed.

He is not good with computers (Heck I am bearly above point and click and I know more), he uses the internet for games, porn, and file shareing and that is it. The fact that it is starting to inconviance him, and made him pay for a book is a small victory. Infact all of that is due to WotC not realising the PDFs...

 

[evilref]

But it's still just a number they pulled out their posterior. No one knows how many lost sales were caused. Somewhere between 0 and 2600. A guess is not proof, and until proof is shown, any number is as good as another.

The legal question isn't how many lost sales there were, it's how many violations there were. That's what determines how much the fine (when it goes to court) or likely settlement is determined to be.

 

[Storm Raven]

But it's still just a number they pulled out their posterior. No one knows how many lost sales were caused. Somewhere between 0 and 2600. A guess is not proof, and until proof is shown, any number is as good as another.

No, one number isn't as good as another. The 2,600 number is the number of infringing acts, and if you look at the statute, it doesn't require evidence of lost sales, merely evidence of instances of infringement. The measure of damages can be lost sales, but Congress recognized that this would be hard to prove, and created an alternative in the statutory damages rule, which is based upon the number of infringing acts.

Any other number is pure speculation. The 2,600 number (in this case) is one that is based upon an objective standard.

I can't go to Barnes and Noble and read the recipe for Coke, nor can I check the recipe out of my local library.

And that is why penalties for infringing acts often are stiffer than for other acts. The copyright holder, by virtue of entering the marketplace at all, has to make themselves vulnerable to misappropriation in way that other economic actors do not. Hence, the penalty for trespassing their rights needs to be more severe to compensate them for this risk.

 

[AllisterH]

Isn't this scribd.com where the violations occur?

I thought on scribd.com you could actually view the files even before you downloaded them so the argument "I was just browsing" doesn't actually work with scribd.com

Since, if you're browsing, why do you need to download it?

Or am I thinking of another offender?

 

[C_M2008]

I'm just curious how a lone individual is expected to pay so much?

I would assume that there must be a payment plan/wage garnishing if WOTC expects to collect the entire sum.

 

[Storm Raven]

I'm just curious how a lone individual is expected to pay so much?

I would assume that there must be a payment plan/wage garnishing if WOTC expects to collect the entire sum.

The usual means of enforcing a judgment, assuming the debtor doesn't simply cough up a big chunk of change or a check for the full amount, is to work out some sort of payment plan. Failing that, the plaintiff can place a judgment lien on any property the debtor may own, and attach the debtor's wages to garnish them.

This, of course, assumes that the plaintiff is interested in collecting the full amount. Sometimes a plaintiff will engage in after settlement negotiations and agree to reduce the payment amount in exchange for certain actions or agreements to forbear actions by the debtor. This is not typical though, as this would normally be part of the main settlement negotiations.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I'm just curious how a lone individual is expected to pay so much?

I would assume that there must be a payment plan/wage garnishing if WOTC expects to collect the entire sum.

the only part of this I am unsure of (as in not on my high horse) is I see a 16 year old kid getting hit by a 100,000 judgment, and being told he has 20-30 years to pay it...witch means if he is 30 he is still paying for the mistake he made when he was 16...OK that may be a bit much.

100,000 divided by 20 years is 5,000 a year, 96.16 per week... witch means if you work for $10 per hour (more then some gamers I know make) at 40 hrs a week, it is still 1/4 your income...

 

[Herschel]

Wizards of the Coast killed my dog.

But did they invite you to the cookout?

 

[Herschel]

I can't go to Barnes and Noble and read the recipe for Coke, nor can I check the recipe out of my local library.

Who needs to. It's H2SO4.

 

[Storm Raven]

the only part of this I am unsure of (as in not on my high horse) is I see a 16 year old kid getting hit by a 100,000 judgment, and being told he has 20-30 years to pay it...witch means if he is 30 he is still paying for the mistake he made when he was 16...OK that may be a bit much.

For a minor, at least in the U.S., there is a decent chance that their parents will be vicariously liable for paying damaged resulting from their torts. The question is not necessarily how the defendant will pay the settlement, but how their parents will.

100,000 divided by 20 years is 5,000 a year, 96.16 per week... witch means if you work for $10 per hour (more then some gamers I know make) at 40 hrs a week, it is still 1/4 your income...

Most people are unlikely to make only $10 an hour for the bulk of their adult lives. It is possible, but not common.