Posted by froggyTheFrog (9w1) (158.114.92.201) on April 30, 2002 at 15:32:16:
In Reply to: Re: A question for Isaac, Matches and everybody who's interested posted by Primer Gray (208.251.7.66) on April 30, 2002 at 14:38:58:
: : What if all the laws protecting intellectual property (patents, copyright) were scrapped?
: : What do you see happening to the economy? To firms that invent and produce stuff?
: Ah, how is buying used items different? Used cars, CD's, etc...the inventors, and copyright holders receive no money from these sales. They are in effect selling the work of others and profiting from it rather than just sharing them. Should used cars and CD's be illegal?
Whenever you buy something used, you are buying something the artist or inventor has already been paid for by someone else. You are not robbing nayone of money, because the creator has already recieved their money for the item. (Figuratively... it's more like the company selling it got its share of the money.)
Now if you burn the CD and sell it, then you are violating copyright because the artist is not recieving any money off the new item. He was only paid once. Not once + the number of copies made.
Same argument applies if you want to start cloning copies of your car and selling them. (You know, this does not sound like such a bad idea right after you've just bought a new one.)
Froggy