Quote:
Originally Posted by Iphinome
As to your opposition to used book and cd stores do you also feel an artist should be payed if someone resells a painting? A patent holder if you resell your lawnmower? How about a royalty when you give away a book you no longer want or a pen you no longer want? The idea is absurd. Would you ever really own anything unless its so old nothing in it is covered by some monopoly granted for the sake of progress? And where would there be any progress when you can't freely build on anything that came before without having to pay just to add your own idea?
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Hmmm. Wow. I didn't intend to go that far. My opposition to used books and CDs is more of an ethical opposition than a legal one.
As far as considering my ideas Marxist, I find that interesting, and difficult to parse. I will think about this, and see if I can figure out how agreeing that an artist should be compensated for the sale of his/her work is Marxist. When I understand it, I will excise all such ideas from my brain so that when I testify before congress I can say I am not a communist, and mean it.
Seriously, however, you raise many valid points, but some of them really are a straw man argument. They do, however, force me to be a little more specific about my position:
In the case of a work of Literature, art, etc. that is covered by copyright and easily copied with little to no marginal cost, and has no value other than the content, be it words, music, or pictures, then each consumer, or at least each household, who wishes to read, listen, or view said content should reasonably be expected to compensate the original artist if the original artist is still accepting compensation by way of selling said work, be it in physical or electronic form.
In short, I like my favorite authors, and want to support them. I want you to support your favorite authors as well. Oh that's it! There's the Marxism.
Finally, I am not making a legal argument! I'll leave that to DawnFalcon.