Re: [LAU] Changed: Copyright laws and such

James, Michael, I understand what you are saying, however, by asking someone about permission, you are basically giving him the power to say "No". It would be a matter of decency or courtesy only if it would be notifying: "Dear sir, I've used your tune in my play. Sincerely..." If we are in a position when such "courtesy" means saying "Can I please use your tune in my play?", we are philosophically saying that the author has the right to decide how you should employ your body and your property in a certain way. I maintain that by making up an idea, you do not now gain property rights in everything that uses that idea. "Something smells rotten. Coulton did not "aim to become a tyrant" but FOX Broadcasting came in, used his work, copyrighted it for themselves and won't even give him credit by name. THEY are now the tyrants, but your view would seem to suggest that Coulter should simply accept this." Yeah. This rotten problem is called copyright. The problem is not in Coulton not being able to stop FOX using his work, the problem in FOX being able to stop others from using it. If there was no copyright, FOX would just use it and not be able to exclude others. If there was no copyright, all art would be free. Always. GPL and CC have meaning only in the world of copyright. They try to partially undo it. So to me it seems backwards to say that the problem is in that Coulton did not use CC or similar. The problem is the copyright. "If I say to a friend, "Here, have a bunch of candies, share with your friends," and then I find out he hoarded it for himself, I'll think twice about giving him candy in the future." The difficulty with this analogy is that it is basically a contract situation. Copyright is not a contract, it is a law that is enforced, meaning it works by using physical force against anyone who disagrees, you never agree to it. Also, I have little regard for the sentiment that if I give something away for free, others have to do the same. It is their business what to do with it and it is not my call to decide how others live their life, unless they are invading my property. I can of course suggest this to them, but I cannot dictate it to them. L.V.