marjaerwin (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
marjaerwin) wrote2011-03-23 08:03 pm
marjaerwin) wrote2011-03-23 08:03 pm
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Who are the rights holders?
A lot of the defenders of intellectual feudalism refer to the lords as the rights holders. But what rights are involved, and who has just or unjust claims to these rights?
The first and most important point is that ideas are non-rivalrous. Property claims in rivalrous goods, so long as they remain close to simple possession, serve to minimize disputes. Property claims in non-rivalrous goods serve to create disputes. Who benefits? Those who control the government and the courts, which is to say, those who have power-over-others.
Furthermore, ideas draw on their cultural contexts. New inventions are most often made when their need is clear and their preconditions are available. Quite often two or three inventors independently create the same, or functionally-equivalent inventions. New discoveries are most often made on the basis of old discoveries. Perhaps the most famous example would be Darwin and Wallace's co-discovery of natural selection.
Finally, ideas reside in the human mind. An attempt to own ideas now requires censorship, surveillance, and all the technologies for *owning other people's minds.*
There is only one moral answer - all people are the rights holders.
For the record - there are a few documents out there, copyrighted in my name. I don't believe in copyright. I do believe in credit where credit is due. Thanks.
The first and most important point is that ideas are non-rivalrous. Property claims in rivalrous goods, so long as they remain close to simple possession, serve to minimize disputes. Property claims in non-rivalrous goods serve to create disputes. Who benefits? Those who control the government and the courts, which is to say, those who have power-over-others.
Furthermore, ideas draw on their cultural contexts. New inventions are most often made when their need is clear and their preconditions are available. Quite often two or three inventors independently create the same, or functionally-equivalent inventions. New discoveries are most often made on the basis of old discoveries. Perhaps the most famous example would be Darwin and Wallace's co-discovery of natural selection.
Finally, ideas reside in the human mind. An attempt to own ideas now requires censorship, surveillance, and all the technologies for *owning other people's minds.*
There is only one moral answer - all people are the rights holders.
For the record - there are a few documents out there, copyrighted in my name. I don't believe in copyright. I do believe in credit where credit is due. Thanks.