> On Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 2:48 PM, Steven Black
> <blacks@indiana.edu> wrote:
>> Copyright is the law. While I disagree with how it has been
>> manipulated by Disney and the like to protect their commercial
>> franchises, I most certainly do not disagree with the
>> principles behind Copyright.
>
> Out of curiosity, which principles are those?
Article 1 of the Constitution commands the Congress to
promote the general welfare, not just over all, but in a number
of specific ways. One of those directs it "To promote the
progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited
times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their
respective writings and discoveries" (U.S. Constitution, Article
I, Section 8)
That is at http://www.copyright.gov/about.html among
other places; all of http://www.copyright.gov (and, for that
matter, all of loc.gov) is full of good stuff.
Historical detail : until Goethe got to be a very big
cheese all over Europe, and promoted it, copyright had no
effective existence. So you couldn't make a living writing; only
the independently wealthy could write full time.
The last few Congresses, filled as they are with
politvermin, have loused up many things not only royally, but
beyond belief. Nevertheless, copyright in and of itself is a good
thing -- inter alia, copyleft, the GNU license, and similar good
things, couldn't live without it.
--
Beartooth Implacable, Curmudgeonly Codger Learning Linux
On the Internet, you can never tell who is a dog --
supposing you care -- but you can tell who has a mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment