At 05:59 AM 5/11/02 -0500, Charles Martin chasm-at-mac.com wrote: >> From: Dan Dumas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> If I download some Louis Armstrong, some Kurt Cobain, some Jimi >> Hendrix....who am I stealing from? >> >Their estates and/or the copyright holders, who do not cease to exist >when the creators die. > >> Those people are dead and their music should part of the public >> domain, in my humble opinion. >> >Well, it's certainly a ... refreshingly original ... thought.
Actually, it's the law, the question is how long it takes for music (and books, etc) to join the public domain. In the US, the "Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act" added 20 years to existing and future copyrights, bringing it to 70-95 years (original copyrights in the US expired 14 years after the death of the author -- which would have included Armstrong and Hendrix, though not yet Cobain). This is currently being appealed at the Supreme Court. See http://eon.law.harvard.edu/openlaw/eldredvashcroft/ >I love how people have clear ideas about how copyright SHOULD be when >it's pretty clear they are completely in the dark about how copyright >IS. See above. >> Of course if you want to blindly follow the rules that big business >> create, go right ahead. You might want to invest in Microsoft as well. >> >This has absolutely nothing to do with "rules big businesses create," >it is the LAW and has been since long before the record companies had >any real power. Who creates the "LAW"? Disney and other media conglomerates financed the campaigns of the congressmen and senators who proposed and voted in these bills to extend copyright effectively indefinitely (whenever the previous extension comes close to running out, a new extension is proposed.) Not to mention the DMCA and the proposed anti-P2P bills that would allow record companies to hack into any computer they suspected had a copy of their products. >You're saying it's okay for me to a) steal from dead people and "Stealing" from dead people. Interesting concept. Should we just seal all of a person's property into their tomb, and/or burn all their books, records (and software) on a pyre? Have you heard of death duties/estate tax or whatever it's called where you are? A method to reduce the concentration of wealth that occurs when societies allow property to accumulate without limit from generation to generation. At some point one has to recognise that wealth is derived from society as a whole and that taking from the commons without giving back leads to a society of robber barons and peasants. Taxing (redistributing the wealth) of the dead is an excellent idea, as it's little disincentive to production, unlike other taxes. >b) ignore any laws with which I don't personally agree. You really should >consider a career in politics. Ignoring laws one doesn't agree with is the only true moral path, as long as one is ready to face the consequences. Though I doubt Gandhi would have fasted for Napster. -- The iMac List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 580 Printers - new at $69 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> iMac List info: <http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:imac-list@;mail.maclaunch.com> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:imac-list-off@;mail.maclaunch.com> For digest mode, email: <mailto:imac-list-digest@;mail.maclaunch.com> Subscription questions: <mailto:listmom@;lemlists.com> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/imac-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
