{"id":976,"date":"2009-03-28T07:35:53","date_gmt":"2009-03-27T23:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nick.onetwenty.org\/?p=976"},"modified":"2009-03-28T16:41:23","modified_gmt":"2009-03-28T08:41:23","slug":"copying-isnt-theft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nick.onetwenty.org\/index.php\/2009\/03\/28\/copying-isnt-theft\/","title":{"rendered":"Copying isn’t theft"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let’s contrast two videos concerning copying media.<\/p>\n

The first is an Australian Government advertisement targeted at young people and equating downloading movies to physical property crime:<\/p>\n

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Here are the words that appear during the video (copied from the YouTube page):<\/p>\n

\nYou wouldn’t steal a car,
\nyou wouldn’t steal a handbag,
\nyou wouldn’t steal a television,
\nyou wouldn’t steal a movie.<\/p>\n

Downloading pirated films is stealing,
\nstealing is against the law,
\nPIRACY IT’S A CRIME\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here’s a video of Jonathan Mann<\/a> (of geek-culture videos<\/a> fame) singing Nina Paley’s<\/a> (creator of Sita Sings the Blues<\/a>, an animated film that won’t get released because it uses compositions from the 1920s which are controlled under Intellectual Property laws) “The Copyright Song”:<\/p>\n

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Here are the lyrics to that song (and a link to the Nina’s original video):<\/p>\n

Copying isn’t theft.
\nStealing a thing leaves one less left.
\nCopying it makes one thing more.
\nThat’s what copying’s for.
\nCopying isn’t theft.
\nIf I copy yours, you have it too.
\nOne for me and one for you.
\nThat’s what copies can do.
\nIf I steal your bicycle, you have to take the bus.
\nBut if I just copy it, there’s one for each of us.
\nMaking more of a thing, that is what we call copying.
\nSharing ideas with everyone.
\nThat’s why copying is fun.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sounds a lot less sensationalist and fear-mongering to me. Maybe the Australian Government should run a more reasonable campaign aimed at proponents of restrictive copyright laws. They can use the following text with their original video (I won’t sue them for copying it):<\/p>\n

\nYou can’t copy a car,
\nYou can’t copy a handbag,
\nYou can’t copy a television,
\nYou can copy a movie,<\/p>\n

Downloading pirated films creates a copy of a video while keeping the original completely intact,
\nWe need to reform our laws so that they appreciate the difference between stealing and copying and don’t criminalise<\/a> the general population<\/a>,
\nIGNORANCE: IT’S A CRIME\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you are interested in reading more about Nina Paley’s current legal problems with Sita Sings the Blues, QuestionCopyright<\/a> has a long interview with Nina Paley<\/a>. They also have a YouTube channel<\/a> with other small videos.<\/p>\n

Piracy is a complex issue that can’t be simply reduced to “stealing” and “protecting intellectual property”. We need to reasonably weigh economic considerations against freedoms (to create and share).<\/p>\n

Here is a set of questions worth considering:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n