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Copyright propaganda
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<h1>Copyright propaganda</h1>
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<div id="article-date">2025-05-04</div>
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<p class="tags">
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<a href="/index/copyright.html" class="tag">copyright</a>
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<a href="/index/free software.html" class="tag">free software</a>
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</p>
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<article class="content-area">
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<p>Copyright ought to be rethought, now that computers and networks exist. Back
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when not anyone could make copies of books, it was reasonable to assume that
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if you were making copies, you were depriving the author of potential income.
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</p><p>I am not asking for everything to become libre. Reading a copyrighted novel
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isn't disrespectful to the reader, as running nonfree software is. But I believe
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that enforcing copyright through technological restrictions is not OK. As Steve
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Jobs said in <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100208194544/http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/">Thoughts on Music</a>,
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DRM (digital <strong class="emphasis-2">restrictions</strong> management) simply doesn't work. It only harms
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the legitimate users, as the illegitimate ones will find a way to bypass the
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DRM.
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</p><p>Copyright is unlike property, and the media and software companies call it
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'intellectual property' to make you associate it with physical property, which
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isn't true at all. When a work is copied, nothing disappears.
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</p><blockquote><p>"If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then
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you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have
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an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas."
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</p><p><em class="emphasis-1">— George Bernard Shaw</em>
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</p></blockquote><p>Also check <a href="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html.en">GNU's list of words to avoid</a>.
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</p><p>This also happens with software. Simply writing proprietary software is already
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not ideal, but it's not the biggest problem. A much bigger one is the DRM in
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devices that forces us to keep the proprietary software they shipped with. The
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main reason we can't run GNU/Linux on most Android phones is that they have DRM,
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and that DRM changes with every Android update. The manufacturers say this is to
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protect their copyright or increase security, these are all propaganda. It is just to
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increase their revenue by making certain features artificially exclusive to more
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expensive models. There's no reason it should exist, other than harming the user
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who paid for that device and now can't use it for anything. I think this should
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be illegal.
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</p><p>These companies hate general-purpose computers. They don't want general computers to exist
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for ordinary people, only for them, and they want you to treat them as some sort
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of deities. They want to sell you appliances. On these, you can't install your
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own software (if you can install software, it must be approved by the company),
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you can't bypass DRM or even use them for something not intended by the company.
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General computers are simply not profitable enough for that kind of greedy
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companies. And they think they should have a legal right <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Computer_Entertainment_America,_Inc._v._Hotz">to sue you</a>
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for that!
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</p><p>Copyright should be way more limited now:
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</p><ul><li><p>The term should be reduced drastically, to about 20-25 years.
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</p></li><li><p>Private copying (not sharing) should be considered fair use and DRM shouldn't
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be used. With computers, it is simply impossible to stop.
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</p></li><li><p>Copyright holders of software should not be allowed to claim any rights on its
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output.
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</p></li><li><p>Devices where the manufacturer can replace the software (it is not in ROM)
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should also allow the user to replace it.
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</p></li><li><p>Ideally, all released software should be free, like GNU likes. Of course, this
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isn't going to happen.
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</p></li></ul><p>Copyright was created to encourage authors to release works in exchange for a
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way to earn monetary compensation. When ordinary people couldn't copy, it was a
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good thing. However, now when everyone has a computer that can copy everything,
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it simply doesn't work anymore, and it needs to be completely redesigned.
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