12-21-2005, 06:27 AM
If making copies of anything at all is okay, then intellectual property means absolutely nothing.
If you want to perform a play, just write down a "copy", perform that, and don't pay the playwright any royalties.
If you want to read a book, just photocopy it. Heck, if you're teaching a class of 500 science students, and you don't like the cost of textbooks, just buy one and photocopy it, or put it online.
It's a different thing than "theft" in the sense that you're taking someone else's physical posession, depriving them of it. But you're still depriving them of something if you copy their work without permission. The only question is: What level of something is society willing to accept and defend?
-Jester
If you want to perform a play, just write down a "copy", perform that, and don't pay the playwright any royalties.
If you want to read a book, just photocopy it. Heck, if you're teaching a class of 500 science students, and you don't like the cost of textbooks, just buy one and photocopy it, or put it online.
It's a different thing than "theft" in the sense that you're taking someone else's physical posession, depriving them of it. But you're still depriving them of something if you copy their work without permission. The only question is: What level of something is society willing to accept and defend?
-Jester