Darryl Moore said 6102 days ago :

OMG, this is an awful idea. I totally agree that copyright should solely be concerned with commercial uses, but there are so many ways that this simply will not work.

What you you do when your contractor, who is incorporated, messes up the reno to your house if you can’t sue? What about unlawful termination from an employer. What about when a former employee takes the company client list with him. This list goes on.

Even with copyright. What about the bootlegger at the corner selling pirated DVDs. What about the company that takes your CC licenced didi you wrote and puts it into a commercial movie.

Comment #000168 at 2008-05-14 13:49 by Darryl Moore

Crosbie Fitch said 6102 days ago :

Either you select a business relationship with a human contractor, or incorporate yourself and have a business relationship with a corporation.

In other words, humans can contract with each other, or corporations can contract with each other, but no contract between mortal being and immortal corporation should be tenable.

If an employer breaks employment law then presumably no employee needs to sue them?

As for an employee taking a client list, I see nothing unethical in such an action. The employee’s reputation may well be affected of course.

As for bootleggers, as long as they are not committing plagiarism, violating anyone’s privacy, or misrepresenting unauthorised copies as genuine, then I don’t see anything wrong with selling pirated DVDs. However, if there remains any human being who still owns a copyright on the DVD that is infringed, then they could sue the bootlegger for infringement (if they rejected the bootlegger’s natural right to cultural liberty). Similarly, a corporate owner of copyrights on the DVD could persuade the bootlegger to become incorporated such that they may be sued, which the bootlegger might agree to if they felt the potential rewards/risks sufficiently attractive.

As for corporate infringement of an individual’s copyright (whether commercial use of CC-NC or anything else), well, the individual may incorporate themselves to engage in litigation if they wished (or sell their copyright to another corporation who may be attracted by the potential damages). It’s moot anyway, as members of the public can have no rational interest in constraining the use or reproduction of their published works – such control is desired only by publishing corporations in protection of their unethical monopolies.

Comment #000169 at 2008-05-14 14:22 by Crosbie Fitch