Copyright - Right or Wrong?

Firstly read the article below...

Dorset Police have to handover Paedophiles Laptop intact. 

The pedophile’s laptop contains images of the girl he abused

Dorset Police officers have said it would be "unlawful" to delete intimate photos of a young abuse victim from a pedophile’s laptop.

The man was jailed in 2013 for nine years after admitting a string of sex offences, including assaulting a child under the age of 13.

He has now formally requested a laptop and a mobile telephone are handed back.

Liberty, which represents the victim's family, said photos of her in swimwear and leotards are still on his computer.

Dorset Police said they couldn’t delete them, as they are not legally classified as indecent or prohibited.

As a result, the sex offender, who is in his 50s but cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, will have access to a large number of personal photos of the girl when he is released from jail.

The victim's mother says: "I am appalled that the man who abused my child can ask the police to hand over our family photos for him to keep for the rest of his life. My daughters struggles every day with the devastating consequences of his abuse and this will only make them feel more humiliated and degraded. Why should we continue to be traumatised further?"

'Violation of dignity'

Liberty argues the return of the computer and mobile would breach articles three and eight of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protect against inhuman treatment and invasion of privacy respectively.

In a letter to Dorset Police, Liberty said the prospect of having the photos returned to the abuser is "causing the girls a significant amount of distress" and would be "an enormous violation of their dignity and personal integrity".

The abuse has caused the victim to suffer "enormous psychological harm" and she eats very little, self-harms frequently and is at risk of suicide, Liberty said.

Rosie Brighouse, legal officer at organisation, said: "We urge the police to protect these victims' dignity. It's surely common sense that these vulnerable girls aren't degraded further?"

In a reply, Dorset Police said "present options" are limited as the legislation used to seize the phone and computer requires officers to return the property.

The force added: "Furthermore it would be unlawful for police officers to alter the computer and phone's memories by removing the disputed photographs before returning them."

British law at times can be an ass, and that's putting it mildly. In a circumstances like this, you have to ask why should these items be returned as they probably would have been used as evidence in the case against this bloke.

If there was a case for copyright to be overturned, this would be in the top five, but surely cases like this should be taken by the police to high court, with a strong case for not allowing this guy to have his items back, or if not then for the hard drives to be reformatted so the images were no longer available. 

I really feel for the family as they know that he will have images their daughter, that he can view at his leisure as a reminder of what he did. 

Things like this, that are simple to resolve, make me sick to the stomach. He must be laughing his head knowing that he's had the last laugh and at the expense of child that he's already scarred for life. 

Stories like this should be talked about on social networks to show the family the support of many against what has been allowed, not by the police as they seem to have their hands tied and I'm sure those involved in the case must feel as I and many do, which is angry at the law that should be there to protect the venerable and young.

If your feelings are as mine, then please share this story with others to show support to the parents of this young child.

AndyD