Is Taking A Photo Of An iPhone A 'Copy'?

Is Taking A Photo Of An iPhone A 'Copy'?: "There are still some serious questions about the legality of the police's decision to search the home of Gizmodo reporter Jason Chen and to seize his computers as part of their investigation of the iPhone prototype story. However, with the unsealing of the search warrant, some are noticing some oddities. Reader johnjac highlights that the police defense of the need for the search warrant claims that Jason 'created copies of the iPhone prototype in the form of digital images and video.' While it may just be either a misstatement or an awkward use of the word, it does seem like a strange description of what happened, designed to make the judge think that the 'risk' was much greater than it actually was. If there were actual 'copies' of the device being made, that might be an issue. But photographing or videotaping a device is hardly making copies. But, of course, in an age where many in the world are trying to falsely equate 'copies' with 'theft,' suddenly the idea that Jason was able to 'copy' the iPhone prototype via the magic of a camera makes his actions seem that much more nefarious than they really were.

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