4 ms·

I don't see how pointing out particular cultural examples is relevant. Most software from the 80s is commercially useless right now; should it still be protecte

I don't see how pointing out particular cultural examples is relevant. Most software from the 80s is commercially useless right now; should it still be protected by copyright? Books from the 1700s are still culturally relevant; is it OK that they aren't? What would society lose if I could create an adaptation of The Wizard of Oz that includes red shoes? Literally everyone involved in the original creation is dead, but WB owns it until 2035[1]. Is that ethical? There's a balance somewhere between the rights of the creator and the rights of society to adapt and disseminate our own culture, and the argument we're making is that the scales are currently tipped way too far on the side of the creator. I don't care how easy it is to watch Frozen in 2020, I care about what the children who grew up with that film can do with the culture they grew up in when they are adults. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_The_Wizard_of_Oz_and_related_works_in_the_United_States#1939_film https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_The_Wizard...

tptacek 6y ago
"Our own culture" is just handwaving. What makes one title "our culture" and another "intellectual property", unless you outright don't believe in IP at all? The latter would at least be a coherent argument.
- coldpie 6y ago
  It's not a dichotomy. Culture is the environment you live in; if you have humans, you can't not have culture. IP is a set of laws that govern people's behavior. I'm saying we got the laws wrong and it impacts our culture negatively.
  - tptacek 6y ago
    To me, it just sounds like a special pleading argument; nerds like Star Wars, believe it should be free, and so dub it "shared culture". What film or album isn't "shared culture"? By some definitions of the (very loose) word "culture", it's all "culture".
    - coldpie 6y ago
      Yes, it is all culture, regardless of the copyright status. The question is whether our IP law results in "better" or "worse" effects on our culture, whatever those terms mean. I think the current length of copyright harms our culture more than it helps it. I don't care about any particular media property's copyright status, I care about what impacts copyright has on our culture. I feel like you are not responding to the points I am making, and are hung up on something else.

tptacek 6y ago

"Our own culture" is just handwaving. What makes one title "our culture" and another "intellectual property", unless you outright don't believe in IP at all? The latter would at least be a coherent argument.

coldpie 6y ago
It's not a dichotomy. Culture is the environment you live in; if you have humans, you can't not have culture. IP is a set of laws that govern people's behavior. I'm saying we got the laws wrong and it impacts our culture negatively.
- tptacek 6y ago
  To me, it just sounds like a special pleading argument; nerds like Star Wars, believe it should be free, and so dub it "shared culture". What film or album isn't "shared culture"? By some definitions of the (very loose) word "culture", it's all "culture".
  - coldpie 6y ago
    Yes, it is all culture, regardless of the copyright status. The question is whether our IP law results in "better" or "worse" effects on our culture, whatever those terms mean. I think the current length of copyright harms our culture more than it helps it. I don't care about any particular media property's copyright status, I care about what impacts copyright has on our culture. I feel like you are not responding to the points I am making, and are hung up on something else.