Let's have one more go at copyright.
The people who care the most about copyright law being enforced are the same people that have the most to lose if it's not. It's a pretty basic human fear; that of losing something that you have. Especially if that something has, and will continue to bring you loads of money. The biggest shame here is how far off the copy written path our incessant greed has left us. Rather than using copyright to "promote the progress of Science and useful Art" it is more often than not that these laws and amendments are used to protect personal fortunes and prevent anyone else from taking a piece of profitable pie. Another interesting insight into greed's power over the human mind is how often the same people fighting for broader copyright boundaries become lawbook thumpers when the same rules and regulations they once rallied against for creative freedom become a means to protect often hard-earned financial gains.
We love money. We also love our American freedoms. Be prepared for shit to fly if you intend to mix the two.
What matters most to me is how this Big-Show struggle trickles down into my personal life. I am of that 70% who shares copy written material on peer-to-peer sites. I don't quake in fear that my door will be beaten down by law enforcement and that I'll be hauled off to prison for my infringements (knocking on wood). In my experience, so long as the threat I impose on other's copyrights remains local and insignificant, I can keep on with business as usual. Until what I stand to gain by blurring the lines of copyright comes from someone else's closely-guarded copy written pocket, none of this really matters.
What kind of message will this send to future generations? I can only image that as technology develops further, means to challenge these outdated rules and regulations will only multiply. Taking, for example the past 15 years of copyright hell since the inception of the first peer-to-peer file sharing network, Napster, what horrors could lie ahead in the next 15?
Something's gotta give. We've been fighting a digital war with analog weapons for way too long. Until someone figures something out, though, I'll keep downloading and sharing and remixing.
First off, this is perhaps my favorite blog title I've seen this whole class.
ReplyDeleteSecond of all I have to agree with you all the way. If you look at all the copyright questions we have now, just imagine how much it will multiply in the next ten years. Times are changing and yet so many people refuse to admit it and keep laws the way they were when it was still valid. I'm sure when it was conceived, the copyright law was pretty valid, but nowadays it's out of date and simply doesn't work anymore.