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Ask HN: Do you think Intellectual Property laws do more good or harm?

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Re: Ask HN: Do you think Intellectual Property laws do more good or harm?

#11
post #10

I think they are more harmful than good (although in the past it might have been more neutral, although I am still against copyright/patent laws in general). I think patents and copyright should be abolished (although trademarks might be useful, although I don't know if the trademark laws should be altered a bit maybe). Stuff I write myself I make it to be public domain because I don't like copyright. Copyright/paten…

What is your counter-argument to people who write for a living and say they need copyright to protect their livelihoods? Say fiction or technical manual writers? It's the entirety of their work product. Should they just find something else to do? How should they be rewarded for their time and effort? Not trolling, just trying to understand how an anti-copyright advocate would argue this case.

Question Copyright has many ideas (and there are also counterarguments in the comments, although there are problems with some parts of some of the counterarguments). I would buy a book if I want a printed copy, at least. There is also possibility of agreeing to write or modify it in exchange for payment, and there is also trademarks (including the "Creator Endorsed" mark), and I am not suggesting to abolish trademarks (although a lot of fair use should be allowed in many circumstances, maybe more than the current laws I don't know). Also, I am not suggesting that someone should be forced to publish something, but if they do, then someone could copy it (if they want to), with or without modifications (although the author should be allowed to specify (if he want to) that altered versions should not be confused with the original version (except for technical compatibility purposes in some cases, e.g. if a file format requires the file to contain the text "This file is authorized by [company name]", then it does, although the documentation that comes with the file would mention that it is not true and is only included for the compatibility reasons)). You can also charge money for a CD, DVD, admission fee for a concert, etc, or even for download if you want to (although I am not advising it, and even if you do, others do not have to change for the download too). If you have not sold any DVDs yet, then nobody is allowed to steal one in order to copy it or trespass on your property in order to make a copy, but once you sell a copy to someone who wishes to copy it, then they can (including format shifting). Also, a company providing it as a service could still have terms of service that say they can terminate your service (but cannot force you to pay for it in this case, unless you have already paid and received the service in exchange) (also, someone can still set up a competing service if they don't like their terms of service, anyways).

[0] https://questioncopyright.org/understanding-free-content

Re: Ask HN: Do you think Intellectual Property laws do more good or harm?

#12
We need some mechanism by which to encourage people with good ideas to make those ideas available to the world rather than keeping it to themselves. Intellectual Property laws are our current mechanism for rewarding such behavior and thereby encouraging people to add value to the system.

Maybe they aren't optimal. Maybe there's a better solution.

But doing away with them without first coming up with a superior method for making sure those ideas get shared at all is a great way to strangle the supply of better ideas and new inventions. Counting on people to give that stuff away for free out of the goodness of their hearts so everyone else can benefit while the brilliance of the originator gets treated abusively like slave labor is an excellent way for the world to cut its own throat.

Brilliant people can choose to turn their brilliance towards a "Fuck you, got mine!" personal policy if the world wishes to habitually and by policy fuck them over. Encouraging them to behave that way is an excellent way to actively foster a dystopian future.

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