The industry’s continuing attempts to control the public’s reproduction and use of published works in the digital age is something that will be laughed at by future generations – especially the idea that such inherently impossible control would be miraculously become possible if only it was ‘balanced’.

The logical fallacy of an appeal to moderation is just as silly when applied to another matter concerning human liberty: “Well, if only we took a more balanced approach to slavery, were a little kinder and made enslavement a little less harsh, perhaps the slaves wouldn’t keep running away or demanding their freedom?”

Just as we’ve now come to terms with the idea that a man of one colour has no intrinsic claim to suspend the liberty of a man of another colour (or even the same colour), so perhaps we should now come to terms with the idea that an artist has no instrinsic claim to suspend the liberty of any other artist (or any other member of their audience).

When you publish your art, you have no natural right to control what any other artist does with it.