"Emily L. Ferguson" <elf@xxxxxxxx> writes: > Look. The deal with copyright is that only the creator has the right > to authorize copying. If the creator wishes to give away or sell that > authority that's his/her option. But as long as the creator has that > right, using the created work without permission (and if desired by > the creator) payment, is theft. > > Asking doesn't necessarily have to cost money. But the law says > you've got to ask, because you need permission. > > Personally, I think whenever you take something that belongs to > someone else you should always ask. It's the family value we all grew > up with - right? And if you can't find the person it belongs to, you > leave it where you found it and go searching for the owner. You don't > take it and then ask - right? An awful lot of the material I dealt with as a child was from the public domain. Or treated that way. Lots of the jokes I was told, and retold, were probably recent enough to have an "owner", but it never occurred to me or anyone else to try to find that owner and get permission. And I was taught that, when something is quoted in a paper, it should be *credited*, certainly, but there was no need generally to get *permission*. Same with songs -- it never occurred to anybody I knew to get permission before singing a song they'd heard then, either. In general, I don't think the principles of ownership of physical objects work that well as an analogy to intellectual property rights. > And until that owner gives or sells the something to someone else, > it's still hers/his - right? > > Family values. Then again, that's not the best catchphrase to hang this argument on if you want to bring me in on your side. Most of the uses I see of that term are as a code-phrase for repressive right-wing christianity, and my initial reaction to it is highly negative. -- David Dyer-Bennet, <mailto:dd-b@xxxxxxxx>, <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/> RKBA: <http://noguns-nomoney.com/> <http://www.dd-b.net/carry/> Pics: <http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/> <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/> Dragaera/Steven Brust: <http://dragaera.info/>
