Ross Werner wrote: > Now, I agree with Stallman that Copyright shouldn't be entirely abolished > (although I personally think that the computer industry would do just fine > if it were). But I don't think that Copyright is a "natural right" or a > property right, in that simply because I express some creative idea in a > fixed medium, I morally have some right to prevent those to whom I sell my > creative work from further copying that work. > > I believe that copyright laws should be primarily for the purpose of > "promoting the progress of science and useful arts", which I read as > primarily encouraging the creation of creative works, and as secondarily > enriching the public domain. If copyright fails to "promote the progress > of science and useful arts," I see no valid reason at all to grant said > copyright, even if it is very useful (or profitable) to the author of the > work.
Hey, cool: someone else who articulates pretty much how I feel about copyright. I believe that copyright is essentially a policy or statutory creation, not a natural right of the artist. But by and large it's good policy. I obey it because it's the law and I believe in following laws unless they are unjust. And I don't believe there's a clear case that copyright law is unjust. (As an aside, I do feel software patents are primarily supported by a powerful lobbying minority, not for justifiable reasons, and for the most part harmful to innovation and society,which is why I support doing away with them legally.) That's not to say that some aspects of copyright law couldn't be improved or that some copyright holders aren't draconian in the exercise of their power. But by and large, copyright is a good system and shouldn't be dismissed without instating another system (such as a patronage system) to meet the same needs. Adam Peterson -------------------- BYU Unix Users Group http://uug.byu.edu/ The opinions expressed in this message are the responsibility of their author. They are not endorsed by BYU, the BYU CS Department or BYU-UUG. ___________________________________________________________________ List Info: http://uug.byu.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uug-list
