Comment by llm_trw

1 year ago

>That's a social dynamic that's at the heart of IP laws. Pirate book publishers saw a way to make some money by exploiting the labor of authors and original publishers for their own gain.

This is a _gross_ misunderstanding of what publishing was like in the first few centuries of the printing press.

Copyright laws originated as a form of government censorship and control over the printing press in 15th-16th century Europe. Governments and religious authorities sought to regulate the spread of information by granting exclusive printing privileges to select printers. This allowed them to censor and control what content was published.

It was only when the people who were censored won that copyright was invented to keep them from killing everyone involved.

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llm_trw

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wpietri  1 year ago

I never claimed that I was reporting on the whole arc of publishing law over hundreds of years. I was laying the foundation for the next sentence, which is pointing at why this was so important to put in the US Constitution. The relevant text being, "[The Congress shall have Power . . . ] To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." Which is pretty clearly about balancing the economic interests of authors and inventors against the public good. Which is indeed at the heart of modern IP laws.

That's twice now that you've replied in a way that to me seems like favoring the argumentative nitpick over the substance of what I'm saying. If I don't reply after this, it'll be because I feel like there's not much point in writing for somebody who I can't get through to.

  • llm_trw  1 year ago

    >I never claimed that I was reporting on the whole arc of publishing law over hundreds of years. I was laying the foundation for the next sentence, which is pointing at why this was so important to put in the US Constitution.

    Printed press invented: circa 1440

    US Constitution drafted: circa 1780

    1780 - 1440 = 340

    >hundreds of years

    Hmmm.

    >That's twice now that you've replied in a way that to me seems like favoring the argumentative nitpick over the substance of what I'm saying.

    If your argument is based on false premises then there is no substance in your conclusion.