Quote:
Originally Posted by StephenM
This is a bad example. A better example would be the person who takes a picture of an expensive picture hanging in an art store, because they cannot afford to buy the original. By taking a picture, the original is still available to the owner to be sold to someone who can afford it, and wants to pay the price to own it. Piracy is not theft. If I steal your bicycle, you cannot use it. If I make an exact matter replica of your bicycle, you can still ride yours, and I can ride the copy I made. You are out nothing. This is the basic difference between theft and copyright infringement.
Sorry for the mini-rant. This sort of false equivalency irritates me.
|
I disagree.
If you were trying to sell that artwork that I took a picture of, and then gave away copies of that picture (assume copies are as good as the original for this) to people who would have bought your artwork, I have stolen from you. I have taken something from you that you can not replace, the ability to sell and any profits from those sales. If I begrudge your name in the process (say by installing malware in the photo), then I have stolen some of your good reputation.