Yakk

Because I refuse to give someone else unlimited ownership of my thoughts.

Once you express an idea, it is in the mind of all who listen to it.

You have the natural right to not express an idea, and retain your monopoly over it. Your choice to express an idea gives you no natural right to control what I do with your expression once you express it.

In order to encourage expression of unique, creative and useful ideas, intellectual monopolies that are highly restricted may be justified. But do not lose track of the fact we are relegating everyone else's ability to express ideas -- the harm caused by intellectual monopolies is real, so such monopolies should be restricted.

More practically, the run-away infinite-duration copyright problem has resulted in a culture where the very fabric of the culture is in private hands. Patent and Copyright law both encourages and stifles creativity. Culture is not created in a vacuum, and technical progress rests on the shoulders of the giants who came before. As the field of ideas you can use to create from gains a less clear, more tangled, and more universal private ownership, the act of creation is more and more likely to rely upon permission from a behemoth rather than actual creativity.

The RIAA and related industry lobbiests are seeking to extend intellectual monopoly law from it's current all-time-high to even more suffocating extents.

I'm personally willing to give up the right to republish without renumeration for limited times. Not every right of use for unlimited times.

The majority of the profits reaped from intellectual monopolies lie in the first decade. The infinite extension, backdated to steamboat willy, benefits the behemoths who own the 20th century's cultural fabric. They have lots of money and are willing to bribe lawmakers to make laws that suit their own wants. And the ability to crush creative non-behemoths with threats of intellectual property assults helps increase the barriers to entry into the entertainment industry, reducing consumer selection.

I want a vibrant, shared culture. I want artists who create more than created "artists".

Oh, and yes, the US constitution does restrict government granted intellectual monopolies to limited times, for the explicit purpose of encouraging creativity and supporting creators. Currently, the US congress retroactively increases the limited time duration of copyright by 20 years every 20 years like clockwork, in order to make a mockery out of the constitutional restrictions.

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Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest.