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by sp332 3905 days ago
It does say "on a commercial scale", so it has to be big. However, I think using bittorrent counts since you are offering to upload the file to anyone on the internet who asks for it. Just singing it at a single private party wouldn't be included, but a restaurant chain singing it for every birthday party would.

Not sure what "prejudicial impact" means, but it's probably something that would keep people from buying the copyrighted version.

2 comments

so it has to be big

I think you're putting too much faith in the usual meaning of words. Think about the wording of the US Constitution's 2nd Amendment (or 4th Amendment) and how different the legal meaning is from what someone who isn't a lawyer would expect.

I bet that "commercial scale" is "at least on the scale of that guy selling knock-off Nikes out the back of his van" after we make it through the courts.

Technically, "commercial scale" can mean anything from "someone somehow made money while doing it" (e.g. from ads to pay for hosting) all the way to "how someone doing it for money might do it" (e.g. using a proxy or fake contact details). It's intentionally vague.
This section specifically says "not carried out for commercial advantage or financial gain", so it doesn't apply to people who actually make money from this. I don't know what section that's covered in though.
Commerce happens on all scales, therefore "commercial scale" could apply at all scales.
When the the practical implementation of a law does not align with the meaning of the words in the law, we all lose.

This is doubly so with a proposed law, where the implementation can easily change to reflect what the words do mean.

"Shall not be infringed"

Here, pay this money, register here, sign this, don't do that, pay this other fee, and if you do this other thing, you will go to prison. Also, options C through Z are banned, only options A and B are allowed. But we don't consider this infringing a basic right.

Basically, if voting rights were treated like gun rights, Jim Crow era discrimination would pale in comparison.

I full expect the government to twist the wording of this law as well.