Court Decides To Listen to Citizens in ReplayTV Case

” U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper granted permission to combine a copyright lawsuit filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation on behalf of the device owners and one filed by consumer electronics manufacturer Sonicblue, maker of ReplayTV….according to the judge’s ruling, the question of whether the plaintiff’s use of ReplayTV’s features constitutes fair use will ‘figure prominently in both’ actions.”

Of course, this is a small victory, but a positive one nonetheless, since it recognizes the impact of copyright law on average citizens who simply wish to exert reasonable control over their own media environment. All too often these battles are staged between industries, or between industry and government, with nary a public voice sincerely requested, heard or acknowledged. Especially in court, the public’s standing is most often neglected. As an instrument of the powerful, officiated by the unelected, the courts have little incentive to include the public in trials that hold sway over our rights. This is, at least, one small crack in that cold, divisive edifice.