Posts by Crosbie Fitch

The rights that may be violated, and the monopolies that may be infringed

This is why we must defer to nature rather than desire when determining what is ethical, i.e. the natural rights we're born with rather than the commercial privileges we might lobby for and be granted.

There are still some in the free software movement who steadfastly believe in copyright as a fundamental right, that the GPL is thus a jolly good idea for those situations in which copyright gets in the way of sharing and building upon mankind's knowledge. Such people do not go further to question why a 'right' must be neutralised by license to facilitate collaborative software development.

There is such a thing as natural intellectual property and a natural right to exclude others from it. For natural rights this has to be self evident. If you can naturally, physically prevent me making copies of your work (without invading my privacy) you have a natural right to prevent me doing so - irrespective of facile arguments that 'You still have a copy'. I cannot walk up to you, snatch your CD out of your hands, copy it, give it back and say "Thanks mate - don't look so miffed, you haven't lost anything, you still have a copy!" without violating your natural right, your natural power to exclude me from your possessions.

Where things get confused is when the state grants additional powers, beyond natural ones, inevitably by annulling the equivalent natural power from everyone. Thus in 1710 Queen Anne annulled the right to copy in everyone in order to reserve this to create a monopoly for the exploitation of press (instituting the monopolies they had until then been able to nefariously achieve through their own brute force - and previous grants). The right to copy then becomes a privilege (you are then able to license anyone you like the permission to copy once again, as they were naturally able, and had a right to). This privilege must by definition arise in each original work (not being a copy), and so finds itself briefly in possession of the author before the press buys it from them for a pittance.

So when you give someone a CD, it is now in their possession and they can naturally do anything with it they like, unless you have loaned it, in which case they need to give it back in good condition. That means the recipient of a CD has a natural right to copy it - since nothing naturally prevents them. Whoever covets the power to prevent them would need to have a crystal ball to detect copying, and a global army to arrest and punish them for doing so. Copyright grants such power (though being only superhuman rather than supernatural, it is rather ineffective these days, even when made global and draconian by ACTA).

So, you can steal intellectual work (copies made via burglary), but you merely infringe a monopoly when you make copies of intellectual work you have purchased or been given - in this latter case you are actually reasserting your natural right and liberty, contrary to Queen Anne's edict.

As for 'doctrine of first sale' this is a crock. There may be a doctrine of 'fair use' (judicial discretion), but selling the copy you've purchased cannot infringe copyright since no copies are made. People call it a 'doctrine' to raise doubt and confuse the gullible.

Finally, it is shocking how many people think 'rights' are about the power people SHOULD have rather than the power they do have, by nature. No more power can be conjured out of thin air. All power granted is only obtained by taking it away from everyone in order that it may held by a few. It's a double-edged sword. Authors, like Glyn, end up discovering that copyright takes the power and right away from them to copy their own words - traditionally they are only briefly in possession of the privilege, and in the case of 'work-for-hire' they don't even hold that. The GPL rectifies this by licensing back to the public (and the licensor) the freedom to copy (on condition it is licensed for all derivatives too).

Abolishing copyright restores back to people their liberty and natural right to copy.

Ethically, copyright and patent should be abolished.

This is heresy to those indoctrinated to believe such power is properly theirs to exploit or dispose of.