"Of course data is copied during training" is copying. As far as I know, the law is consistent that temporary copies are also covered by the copyright act, and that's how some analogous cases were resolved.
Not of physical media. You're allowed to make archival copies of digital media.
> Or reading a book via a computer would be illegal
No you purchased a license (or your library did, in the case of e-borrowing) to read the book on a computer. That makes it legal.
This scenario seems quite contrived but is there an actual court precedent allowing it? I'm 100% confident no one will ever prosecute you for doing it but that's not the same thing as "allowed".
In another thread I already posted about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Broadcasting_Cos.,_In....
This case was about pointing <recording equipment> at <content someone is allowed to access> and making a copy to transmit it to <only that person>. The Supreme Court held it to be illegal. There was a lot of money on the line, which is why it went so far.
Your example involves transmission and mine doesn't, and that's a whole different can of worms.
Also the result of that case was self-contradicting so it's not a great basis to build too much logic upon.
I'm not aware of this principle. Where is it spelled out?
> Also the result of that case was self-contradicting
I agree the verdict was a travesty. An innovative business went to ridiculous lengths to stay on the right side of the copyright mafia (data centers with tiny individual TV antennas for each subscriber FFS!) while providing a better product and experience. They still had the hammer brought down on them.
Well, do CDs give you a license agreement that allows you to copy the data? I've never seen one. And it's nearly impossible to play a CD without that copying.
Exactly. It's how you are supposed to use the CD. That's not true for your example of a book on a webcam. You're supposed to read the book, not an image of the book.
That's not the same thing as copying for "processing".
Would it be a violation to play back a record like a CD and have a digital buffer? That would be pretty silly.
Selling you the CD explicitly grants you the right to play it using a CD player.
> Would it be a violation to play back a record like a CD and have a digital buffer?
I genuinely have no idea lol.
It becomes illegal if I try to distribute those copies
So the question is, does distributing an AI that has been trained on Harry Potter count as distributing Harry Potter?