"It is widely accepted public knowledge that the material on television is
covered under copyright. I know this when I turn it on, except for when I
am very young perhaps. So there is a contract in the same way that as you
say, "some things are just out there". Also the credits for television
programs and films contain explicit copyright information."
"Further there *is* a way for Joe to know if he pays attention at all
throughout life, as copyright is a well known fact of cultural life.
Pleading ignorance in such a case is not a sufficient defense."
Contract is always a two-side thing. A contract which is presented to me as
an ultimatum is not a contract. I may well be aware of copyright, but I am
not obliged to agree to it. So I do not plead ignorance, I plead
disagreement.
Do you propose I do not watch TV? If yes, it is the burden on content
creators and distributors to exclude unwanted public from their services,
not mine.
It is as if someone says that I can only use smth under particular
conditions and then throws this something into my window without me
agreeing first. And he then feels he has the right to sue me or consider me
to behave unfairly.
"But I do think that if a group of people wants to enter into a collective
agreement to share content in a certain way, that should be their right. If
I happen to come onto some of that content without having entered into
their covenant, then that community should take action against the one who
made that content available to me. If I take the content in full knowledge
that such a covenant exists, then I am acting inappropriately."
I would agree with this under particular circumstances. Under other
circumstances this might not be the case. It hugely depends on the
situation.
But what you are describing is voluntary interactions. I am all for that. I
am against copyright, which is an interaction from the state.