Oh my... what a concept: Lawyers doing pro bono work on behalf of lacemakers!!
Clay ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2004 9:18 AM Subject: [lace] Intent of copyright law > My understanding of the thought behind the copyright law is that it is an > attempt to balance different interests. It recognizes that society benefits from > creative work and innovation. Individuals will not create or invent if they > will not reap some benefit from their efforts. The law seeks to encourage > people to invest time and energy doing creative work that will benefit society > by giving them the ability to profit from the work for a limited period of > time. The details of where exactly the monopoly of the author versus the benefit > to society line is drawn is something that is hashed out by the courts. This > is why it is rather hard to come to absolute conclusions based just on > theoretical reasoning. It is hard even for the courts to put it into specifics > when they have high priced legal talent arguing both sides. > > It seems to me that where we are going with this in the lace world is in the > direction of forgetting that the real purpose of the laws is to make > creative ideas available to society. Instead it seems to be operating to suppress > the production of new material. What is the difference between a situation > where someone doesn't buy a book because they have photocopied another book and > one where someone doesn't buy a book because then she will be unable to show > the finished piece to her friends without getting permission from the author? > What about the situation where people are afraid to look at a book lest they > inadvertantly get ideas from it that they apply to their work? What about the > situation where people are afraid that they will invent on their own a > design that resembles one already invented? Library sales are a large part of book > sales and also a powerful force to make ideas available to society. Why > would a library buy a pattern book at all if the patterns if it were illegal to > copy a pattern for personal use? I wonder how many sales of worthy books are > being lost and worthy ideas not developed in our zeal not to violate the > spirit of the copyright law because we are ignorent of the case law that > illuminates it? > > I think the only solution here is for arachnids to make a concerted effort > to recruit a copyright lawyer who is familiar with the case law and keeps > abreast of new deveopments in the field into our ranks. I call for a national > movement to demonstrate at Bar Association events, Copyright Conferences and > pubs located near Courthouses. Let two lawyers never meet but that there be a > lace demonstrator within twenty feet of them... > > Devon > > - > To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: > unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
