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The Copyright Abolition Movement · Monday May 19, 2008 by Crosbie Fitch

Apparently the Northern California chapter of the US Copyright Society is advertising in its spring newsletter an event on June 26th by Professor Lawrence Lessig entitled “The Growing Copyright Abolitionist Movement, and How You Can Help Stop It”.

As I’ve said before, no-one will have done more to postpone the inevitable abolition of copyright than Professor Lawrence Lessig – despite the claims of his maximalist detractors1 who believe Creative Commons threatens copyright, when quite to the contrary its mission is actually to recast and reinforce copyright as an authorial privilege (naturally, just as unethical as when wielded by publishers).

So, if you understand that all mercantile privilege is unethical, even if restricted to self-publishing authors, then perhaps you might turn up and put the case for copyright’s abolition and the movement of those in support – who hold that no citizen should be threatened with 5 year jail sentences and million dollar fines for enjoying their cultural freedom, just so that an author benefits from a commercial monopoly over reproduction, performance, and other use of their published works.

If you need to counter claims that the US constitution sanctions copyright, you can point to my recent post here, where I show how the state can secure authors’ natural, exclusive rights to their writings without granting them unethical privileges such as copyright over their fellow men.

_________

1 PFF’s recent diatribe against Lessig: Tragedy and Farce: An Analysis of the Book FREE CULTURE by Thomas D. Sydnor II

Anthony Schueller said 4276 days ago :

I agree, we need to get rid of this Cultural Lockdown, I just came across two movies on youtube that were removed because of this, I don’t see why I should not be allowed to watch movies just because I can’t find a job (Because there are almost none left), and have no money.



 

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