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"Artistic theft" isn't really ethically theft if someone has simply copied a work. Imagine a small village. If John makes an axe, and Jim sees it and copies it
by jkepler 6y ago
"Artistic theft" isn't really ethically theft if someone has simply copied a work.
Imagine a small village. If John makes an axe, and Jim sees it and copies it, did Jim steal John's axe? Seems like there's only theft occurring if Jim claims to have designed it himself---stealing some of John's reputation as the designer and first maker of that kind of axe. Doesn't the whole village benefit from more abundant chopped wood? Or perhaps from cheaper lumber prices? True, John now has competition chopping wood, but perhaps he's got an advantage as a designer and he'll soon specialize as a carpenter or tool designer rather than just a wood chopper. Couldn't it be possible that copying ideas and attributing the persons who originate them enriches the entire village---including those who came up with the new ideas?
I find Christian philosopher Vern Poythress's ethical reasons why we should advocate for changing copyright laws to be insightful and persuasive... and I learned the axe inventor example from his article, https://frame-poythress.org/copyrights-and-copying-why-the-laws-should-be-changed/ https://frame-poythress.org/copyrights-and-copying-why-the-l....
- devilduck 6y agoI'm not sure if you actually read what I wrote, but when John makes the axe and is presented in the real world for others to see, the idea is that it is no longer his, which is what I was saying. IP and copyright laws attempt to allow John to be the sole owner of the idea of the axe, but we all know that is not a war that can really be won.