4 ms·

Copyright law is incompatible with preservation of cultural artefacts.

by zirgs 3y ago

Manfred 3y ago
From the article and the wording it seems that the distribution of the music is the biggest issue in this case. I don't think the Internet Archive would be in trouble if they archived it offline and then published it after the copyright term expired.
- zirgs 3y ago
  Distribution helps to preserve cultural artifacts. It's more likely for them to survive if they are backed up in different places. History has proven that copyright holders prefer cultural works to be lost than distributed without payment. Most of early movies have been lost. Tons of music has been lost. Many old video games are only available illegally. We now have technology to archive and distribute cultural artifacts for little to no cost. It's ridiculous that cultural preservation has become a legal problem not a technical problem as it was for most of human history.
  - signalToNose 3y ago
    Look up events like the Bronze Age collapse, where a handful people disappeared and took a whole civilization with them. If knowledge and access is more distributed we can avoid similar loss in the future
    - visarga 3y ago
      It seems Mediterranean peoples were weakened by a severe multi-year drought. A handful people (the so called mysterious sea people) with different military strategy overrun multiple bronze age states. Trade collapse led to impossibility of making bronze weapons, which further amplified collapse. This was possible because tin mines were few and far apart. So it was a vicious cycle triggered by a weak point, on a background of hardship. The lesson is not to depend on a single failure point.
kmlx 3y ago
no it’s not. you just need to preserve it privately not publicly.
- radikalerludwig 3y ago
  so, what's your opinion on public libraries?
  - kmlx 3y ago
    no opinion. they have what is commonly referred to as “library privilege”.
    - ehnto 3y ago
      A library is publicly accessible, just like the Internet Archive. What's the difference?
      - kmlx 3y ago
        actually quite a few: https://www.bl.uk/help/what-is-library-privilege https://www.bl.uk/help/what-is-library-privilege check out the section “ Your obligations when using the Library Privilege Service”
    - AlecSchueler 3y ago
      Isn't IA officially registered as a library? Why shouldn't they have the same privilege?
      - kmlx 3y ago
        from what i know on this subject only “national libraries” have a special carve-out for copyrighted works. and even then the rules are very strict.
        AlecSchueler 3y ago
malermeister 3y ago
I still get upset when I think about the shutdown of what.cd. It was like burning the Library of Alexandria, all in the name of profit. Copyright law is anti-culture and anti-knowledge. It's ridiculous how we're purposefully holding back human development so a few megacorps can extract even more value from artists.

by zirgs 3y ago

From the article and the wording it seems that the distribution of the music is the biggest issue in this case. I don't think the Internet Archive would be in trouble if they archived it offline and then published it after the copyright term expired.

zirgs 3y ago
Distribution helps to preserve cultural artifacts. It's more likely for them to survive if they are backed up in different places. History has proven that copyright holders prefer cultural works to be lost than distributed without payment. Most of early movies have been lost. Tons of music has been lost. Many old video games are only available illegally. We now have technology to archive and distribute cultural artifacts for little to no cost. It's ridiculous that cultural preservation has become a legal problem not a technical problem as it was for most of human history.
- signalToNose 3y ago
  Look up events like the Bronze Age collapse, where a handful people disappeared and took a whole civilization with them. If knowledge and access is more distributed we can avoid similar loss in the future
  - visarga 3y ago
    It seems Mediterranean peoples were weakened by a severe multi-year drought. A handful people (the so called mysterious sea people) with different military strategy overrun multiple bronze age states. Trade collapse led to impossibility of making bronze weapons, which further amplified collapse. This was possible because tin mines were few and far apart. So it was a vicious cycle triggered by a weak point, on a background of hardship. The lesson is not to depend on a single failure point.

kmlx 3y ago

no it’s not. you just need to preserve it privately not publicly.

radikalerludwig 3y ago
so, what's your opinion on public libraries?
- kmlx 3y ago
  no opinion. they have what is commonly referred to as “library privilege”.
  - ehnto 3y ago
    A library is publicly accessible, just like the Internet Archive. What's the difference?
    - kmlx 3y ago
      actually quite a few: https://www.bl.uk/help/what-is-library-privilege https://www.bl.uk/help/what-is-library-privilege check out the section “ Your obligations when using the Library Privilege Service”
  - AlecSchueler 3y ago
    Isn't IA officially registered as a library? Why shouldn't they have the same privilege?
    - kmlx 3y ago
      from what i know on this subject only “national libraries” have a special carve-out for copyrighted works. and even then the rules are very strict.
      - AlecSchueler 3y ago

malermeister 3y ago

I still get upset when I think about the shutdown of what.cd. It was like burning the Library of Alexandria, all in the name of profit. Copyright law is anti-culture and anti-knowledge. It's ridiculous how we're purposefully holding back human development so a few megacorps can extract even more value from artists.