Copyright should be abolished.
post by snarles · 2010-10-11T23:09:59.714Z · LW · GW · Legacy · 12 comments12 comments
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comment by jsalvatier · 2010-10-12T01:26:55.722Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
I'd settle for paring it down to the original (US) 14 years + 14 year extension from the ~ 200 years it is now.
comment by [deleted] · 2010-10-12T00:06:16.263Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Was this meant to be blank? Or did you post accidentally?
Replies from: jaimeastorga2000↑ comment by jaimeastorga2000 · 2010-10-15T14:23:11.490Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Looking over snarles's submission history, there is a precedent for such a blank submission.
Replies from: Pavitracomment by jimrandomh · 2010-10-12T01:45:27.280Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Strenuously disagree because, among other reasons, this would make my profession no longer a viable source of livelihood. But I would support reducing the duration.
Replies from: Alicorn↑ comment by Alicorn · 2010-10-12T01:48:54.789Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
In what way would it do that?
Replies from: jimrandomh↑ comment by jimrandomh · 2010-10-12T02:03:29.990Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
I'm a software engineer. If copyright were abolished entirely, then the market for software would shrink dramatically, as many of the people who currently pay for it would stop doing so. There would still be some revenue going into the software market, but it wouldn't be enough to pay the salaries of all the people currently working there.
Replies from: Alicorn, Relsqui↑ comment by Alicorn · 2010-10-12T02:12:48.984Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
"There would be (far) fewer paying jobs in my field" is a different prognosis from "my profession would no longer be a viable source of livelihood". For all practical purposes, there is no copyright on recipes; people can still sell cookbooks. Perhaps fewer are sold than before the Internet, but cookbooks continue to exist as things that people exchange money for.
↑ comment by Relsqui · 2010-10-12T03:22:10.712Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
many of the people who currently pay for it would stop doing so
I don't doubt it, but I wonder how many. People do pay for things that they could get for free--either for the convenience of legal acquisition, or because they think the product is worth it. Is there a difference between the set of people who would stop paying for software if copyright were abolished, and people who only buy software now because pirating it is illegal? If so, what? If not, the question becomes, how large is the second set?
Replies from: RobinZ↑ comment by RobinZ · 2010-10-12T03:42:24.459Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
I don't think the data that exists is very good, but some attempt has been made to collect info on pirating of games: Google led me to this ars technica article about this call for emails, whose author gave this interview and wrote this followup. And he wrote this essay on copyright which may be relevant.
He also posted a link to an essay about pirating in World of Goo which linked to an essay about pirating Ricochet Infinity.