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On 02/13/2013 03:21 AM, Louigi Verona wrote:
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cite="mid:CADqqn4-oCT_zU2FVku5QLw-yPCaUbqd3vPmFr=9f0powpqR7kg@mail.gmail.com"
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<div>I'm not sure I buy this argument. </div>
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<div>Allow me to play devil's advocate, as I'm not sure
I fully agree with the position I'm about to present.</div>
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<div>If I never see your writing, there is no way for me
to copy it. In order to copy it I must first see it.
If you were to make your writing available only under
a conditional contract of sale (copyright) that states
the writing is not to be shared with anyone else, and
that contract of sale is made known prior to any
exchange of said writing, then the only people that
ever see this writing and will be "forcefully" bound
to the contractual agreement are those that agree with
it. No one is forced to not copy it if they don't buy
it, and by buying they enter into a contract of sale.
In other words, copyright does not try to remove
things from the public domain, it tries to prevent
them from entering into the public domain in the first
place by restricting the sharing of those things to a
community of people who respect the conditions of it
being shared. </div>
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<div>The only cases where I feel like your argument
could hold is when I am forced to read or listen to
your work due to public broadcasting. However, except
for perhaps some severe fascist states, it rarely
happens that people are forcefully exposed to media in
the first place that they are then denied the right to
copy it against their will.<br>
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<br>
<br>
Your thinking is in the right direction. Indeed, if you are given
a book under contract, then you have to abide by the contract. But
let's say you decided to break the agreement and copied the book
on the Internet or gave it to your friends. All those people made
no contract with the author and thus they cannot be and should not
be bound by the contract. What copyright does is bind third
parties, which never agreed to the contract.<br>
<br>
There are other cases. Public broadcasting is one. You turn on
your TV and see Harry Potter. You were not presented with any
contract. Why should you be bound by any conditions? If the author
of Harry Potter wanted to distribute her book only under contract
obligations, she should not have let it broadcast on TV.<br>
The other case is the one I mentioned - someone breaking a
contract.<br>
There are other options, like accidents. You leave a book on a
bench. Unless the book itself contains a full blown contract in
it, there is no way for Joe who finds the book to know. In fact,
even if the contract is in the book, Joe did not sign it.<br>
<br>
Additionally, some things are just out there. You invent
something. The other person sees it. He has no contract with you.
Why should he restrict actions with his own body and his own
property? What legitimate reason is there to not act on a new
knowledge you have?<br>
<br>
Finally, if each time you enter a store and decide to buy a DVD,
you were explicitly told that you will not simply be able to share
copies, but that you should agree to not use the knowledge you
gain from the DVD and act as if you have no such knowledge, I am
not sure most people would agree.<br>
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<br>
That's why things have copyright notices on them that are very
specific in their form and location.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
---
My bands, CD projects, music, news, and pictures:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.lateralforce.com">http://www.lateralforce.com</a>
My blog, with commentary on a variety of things, including audio,
mixing, equipment, etc, is at:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://audioandmore.wordpress.com">http://audioandmore.wordpress.com</a>
Staat heißt das kälteste aller kalten Ungeheuer. Kalt lügt es auch;
und diese Lüge kriecht aus seinem Munde: 'Ich, der Staat, bin das Volk.'
- [Friedrich Nietzsche]
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