[DMCA-Activists] Re: [DMCA_Discuss] Zittrain: Call Off the Copyright War

[Jean-Michel Smith]

On Wednesday 27 November 2002 11:54 am, William Abernathy wrote:

> As a writer who is sympathetic to the cause of free software and fair use,
> the simplicity of my allies' understanding of writing never ceases to amaze
> me. There is a lot more to writing than late-night coding, Project
> Gutenberg, and bad sci-fi. It's work. 

Yes, it is work.  Learning to drive, to fly an airplane, to write software is 
work.  It is all work.  That doesn't mean one expects a government 
entitlement to make it easy, or even possible, to earn a living doing said 
work, and while some pilots make a living flying aircraft, most of us do not.  
We do it for other benefits, not least among them pleasure.  Simply because 
something is work doesn't mean it isn't pleasurable, or that one MUST be paid 
for it, or that one has a right to be able to do it as a fulltime job.

> I used to write for newspapers. In
> order to get a newspaper article onto the page, I needed to make long
> distance phone calls and burn gasoline in order to interview witnesses and
> sources, and I had to be able to head down to County Records during regular
> business hours, during which time I could not hold down another day job. To
> do these things required that I got paid, and no matter how much I loved my
> work, there was no way I could do it without either being independently
> wealthy or receiving some consideration for my services.

That is fine.  If what you provide the paper has value, they can pay you for 
the work.  Would it really be that debilitating to be paid for the expenses, 
for the work, as part of a commission, rather than OWNING a government 
entitlement to a monopoly on the expression, and locking it up for the next 
century or so?

> Look, I agree. Copyright and patent laws are sucky legal albatrosses. Do
> you propose a better alternative? 

Yes, I do.  I have here, on this list, and elsewhere.  Look in the archives if 
you are interested.  There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of alternatives to 
granting monopolies if creating an economic climate that favors the work's 
creator is what you are really interested in.

> This is the problem. I interviewed record
> company executives in 1994 who were way clueful about what was coming down
> the pike. Many very smart people have thought long and hard about this
> problem, and none of them has yet figured out how to make A) the legal
> fiction of intellectual property function in a world of global, high-speed
> internetworking, and B) creators work for free.

They are looking for something that favors THEM, the publishers, and their 
current business models, NOT something that favors the artists.

And you know what?  They are as obsolete as buggy whip manufacturers, so it 
should be no surprise that they could find no solution acceptable to them, 
regardless of how smart they may be.
>

> So your whole alternative to the legal edifice of copyright comes down to
> airily waving your hands at "government entitlements of one sort or another
> (tax breaks, etc.)?"

No.  Did you read the list at all in prior weeks.  I have proposed very 
reasonable, workable alternatives to copyright monopolies, that would work 
just fine for the ARTISTS and their fans.  It would not favor publishers, 
however ... such would be relegated to the same kind of role art stores or  
copyshops have been ... solely to provide the artists a service for a price, 
with no leverage or advantage over that artist.  Go back and read the 
archives if you are really interested.

> Dude. You're punting.

Dude, you are flatout wrong, as the archives of this list will prove.

> For all of Hollywood's and
> New York's flaws (and they are legion), I trust the devils we know far more
> than I am willing to entrust our aesthetic heritage to the Medicis on the
> Potomac.

"I fear change, therefor we should accept the problems and not change."

You are entitled to that opinion, but you'll have to forgive me if I find I am 
unable to respect it.

> But enough of this. I have to go write for money.

Yes, you have a vested interest in the status quo, and it appears you will 
fight any change you think threatens that, regardless of the cost to society.  
Again, your perogative, but it isn't exactly a positive stance to take.

Jean.