1. Content
  2. Index
  3. Search
  4. RSS/Subscribe

Copyright Cannot be Coerced into Kindness · Wednesday June 21, 2006 by Crosbie Fitch

Copyright only has teeth if you’re either wealthy or a publisher and your infringer is either wealthy or a publisher (or poor, and you’re a sadist).

90% of the power within copyright enforced copyleft licenses does not come from copyright’s teeth, but from peer pressure and opprobrium. The other 10% comes from fear and superstitious awe of this legal anachronism.

If you’ve no intention of courting or prosecuting a publisher, either now or in the future, then you do not need copyright, you only need peer pressure and opprobrium as backup.

Publish your art as free culture, and the public will protect what’s theirs.

You don’t need to put the frighteners on your fellow man.

Copyright does not respect our human right to artistic freedom.

Freeculture does.

When you set your art free, state this intent clearly.

Solo artists:
This is a work of free culture. It respects all artists equally: those whose work I build upon, myself, and those who build upon my work. I hope some day you’ll join us.

Groups:
This is a work of free culture. It respects all artists equally: those whose work we build upon, ourselves, and those who build upon our work. We hope some day you’ll join us.

drew Roberts said 6634 days ago :

Personally, I like copyleft.

For a few reasons.

I am not to thrilled at the thought of some big copyright holder making a derivative of my works and closing them off to me and trying to sell them back to me.

BTW, if it is not public domain, it is copyright whether we like it or not in most places right?

Using a copyleft, builds in some incentive for the big players to curtail their constant requests for copyright extensions. They will at some point want to get their hands on the good copyleft works.

I am not sure we have found the best terms yet for copyright works that are not code. (Or code for that matter, but different thoughts come to mind for each.)

As to bringing suits, while I may not personally, there would be nothing stopping me from making a deal to assign my copyright to someone who might then do it. The threat is real. In my country now, if my lawer friend explained it to me right, you can get I think 4 or 5 years for being in posession of a knock off CD or DVD which you purchased thinking it was the genuine, approved article.

all the best,

drew
http://musicians.opensrc.org/DrewRoberts

(+1)/10 to send email…



 

Information

Recent Articles

Recent Comments

Topics

Rights

Natural Right

Legal Rights

Life

Equality

Fraternity

Violence

Privacy

Being Privy

Confidentiality

Personal Data

Publication

Truth

Attribution

Authenticity

Moral Rights

Plagiarism

Representation

Veracity

Liberty

Censorship

Disclosure

Freedom of Speech

Freedom vs Liberty

Official Secrets Act

Piracy

Property

Apprehensibility

Facility

Identifiability

Copyright

Copyfarleft

Ineffectiveness

Modulation

Neutralisation

Patent

Software

US Constitution

'exclusive right'

Sanction

Contract

Inalienability

Licensing

NDA

Abolition

GPL

Business

Models

Incorporation

Immortality

No Rights

Regulation

Culture

Miscellany

Links

Principles

Amnesty International

Copyleft (Wikipedia)

Electronic Frontier

Free Culture F'n

Free Culture UK

Free S/w Foundation

Pontification

Against Monopoly

One Small Voice

Open...

P2Pnet

Question Copyright

Paragons

GratisVibes

Jamendo

SourceForge

Wikipedia

Protagonists

Downhill Battle

Publishers vs Public

Proof

Rethinking Copyright

Papers

Against Monopoly

Ecstasy of Influence

Libertarian Case

Post-Copyright

Practitioners

Janet Hawtin

Nina Paley

Rob Myers

Scott Carpenter