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GA Russell · 01-31-2011, 01:31 PM

There are a pragmatic argument and a moral argument.

Some here are concerned with the pragmatic argument. Paying the authors encourages them to continue to write.

I am much more inclined to the moral argument. The author deserves to be paid for his work.

I suspect that most here allow their thinking to be influenced by copyright law.

For example, I believe that in the US, the patent for medicines runs out in only seven years. (That may be wrong, but you get the idea.) Suppose that the copyright term were similar, and that copyright expired after seven years.

Would you feel guilty for downloading a pirated work after the copyright term had expired? If not, it looks to me like one is allowing the government to determine one's morality. I'm not comfortable with that.

01-31-2011, 01:31 PM	#166
GA Russell Argos upset Ticats Posts: 7,698 Karma: 31487351 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Raleigh, NC Device: Paperwhite, Kindles 10 & 4 and jetBook Lite	There are a pragmatic argument and a moral argument. Some here are concerned with the pragmatic argument. Paying the authors encourages them to continue to write. I am much more inclined to the moral argument. The author deserves to be paid for his work. I suspect that most here allow their thinking to be influenced by copyright law. For example, I believe that in the US, the patent for medicines runs out in only seven years. (That may be wrong, but you get the idea.) Suppose that the copyright term were similar, and that copyright expired after seven years. Would you feel guilty for downloading a pirated work after the copyright term had expired? If not, it looks to me like one is allowing the government to determine one's morality. I'm not comfortable with that.