this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2023
369 points (96.0% liked)
Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ
55076 readers
420 users here now
⚓ Dedicated to the discussion of digital piracy, including ethical problems and legal advancements.
Rules • Full Version
1. Posts must be related to the discussion of digital piracy
2. Don't request invites, trade, sell, or self-promote
3. Don't request or link to specific pirated titles, including DMs
4. Don't submit low-quality posts, be entitled, or harass others
Loot, Pillage, & Plunder
📜 c/Piracy Wiki (Community Edition):
💰 Please help cover server costs.
Ko-fi | Liberapay |
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I like your argument.
Copyright though also protects creators and deems their work valuable. For what reasons might someone write a book or a song if it were of no value? Is your time not worth something?
Prior to the printing press, stories were spread by word of mouth. Every community benefitted from the free exchange of ideas. Why then go through the effort of inventing the printing press? Answer: money, power, influence - progress as you decide it should be.
Today, society is controlled by the whims / stock portfolios of the corporations. Progresses occurs when a major corporation intends to "profit" from of an idea. Ironically, you and I and every other human on this planet have never been more connected yet we might have less power and influence today than a time prior to the Zuckerbergs, the Murdochs, and the Disneys hijacking our ship.
This can quickly turn to a conversation about communism and capitalism. The reality is that we live in a capitalist society and without someone paying someone for their time and investment, there is no opportunity for society as a whole to benefit from their work. Even is someone works full time on a project and puts it out there for the world to enjoy, if they aren't participating in the algorithm their work will largely go ignored. I say this as someone with a blog who refuses to put ads and google and facebook tracking on my site. If I really wanted to spread my work, I would have to integrate with the machine. But also, don't steal my shit! Worked hard on it.
People did it all the time, and there seems to be no correlation with improvements or motivation with the protection of modern copyright laws. The opposite side of the coin is that emlpoyees voluntarily invent content all the time (above their job description) that is immediately the property of their employer. The people who are going to be inventers STRIVE to innovate, regardless of money or lack thereof. A weaker Copyright model would not stifle innovation, but might even bolster it. At least actual inventors would likely have more opportunity to gain from their inventions.