Intellectual property
Although the legal principles governing the concept of intellectual property (IP) have existed for centuries, it was only in the 19th century that the term “intellectual property” emerged, and only in the 20th century did it become a more common issue. Nowadays, it is difficult to find a single intangible asset, be it an artistic, literary or musical work; an invention or a discovery or simply a symbol, design, word, phrase or piece of software, which is not protected by the Intellectual Property Law. Intellectual property deals with different types of creations of the mind to which property rights are attached. Some common forms of intellectual property include copyrights, patents, trademarks, and industrial design rights; the first of which will be our focus in this article.
The general concept of IP is based on the notion of “a man’s right to the product of his mind” that grew out of Ayn Rand, the famous Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. Basically, this means that if you (whether male or female) come up with an idea or creation, you are entitled to some property rights in that idea or creation. When described as such, the concept would seem to appeal to just about anyone; seems fair and equitable. Why, then, does something called “anti-copyright” exist?
Anti Copyright
Defining the word ‘copyright’ is probably a good first step. It refers to the set of exclusive rights granted to the creator or author of an original work, including the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work. For example, software copyright deals with the rights attached to machine-readable software, often used by companies trying to prevent unauthorized copying of software they personally created. Anti-copyright is, therefore, the absolute or partial opposition to copyright laws.. But then one might ask: why would anyone be against the protection of a person’s individual creation or idea? The fundamental argument against copyright goes directly against the classic copyright argument that granting developers temporary monopolies over a source of revenue from their works promotes creativity and development. Copyright advocates argue that copyright rarely benefits society as a whole, but instead serves to enrich a few at the expense of creativity. In addition, they point out the economic and cultural flaws in the concept of copyright.
Economic arguments
The economic arguments are based on the notion that copyright produces an intellectual monopoly. The right of the creator to sell copies of the products or creations of him is not controversial matter. It is the right to control how other people use your copies after the sale, which is controversial according to copyright advocates, as it creates an enforceable monopoly. Furthermore, he proposes that copyright laws increase the cost of creation and consequently decrease the incentive to create.
The French group Association des audionautes, while not completely against copyright, believes in moving towards legalizing peer-to-peer file sharing where artists can be compensated through a surcharge on copyright fees. internet service provider. Other groups such as Hypatia and Hacktivism base their arguments against copyright on the concept of “freedom of knowledge”, the idea that knowledge should be “shared in solidarity” and the claim that copyright law is hindering the human progress.
Cultural arguments
Do any of these arguments have any merit? To some extent they clearly do, however the more important question we should be asking ourselves is: do they have any merit when compared to an individual’s right to benefit from an idea he independently created? Why should one’s hard work simply be distributed and benefited by others at no cost to them? Shouldn’t a person’s hard work, effort and time be recognized and rewarded accordingly? The simple answer is yes; a creator has the right to have his work protected and recognized and a creator has the right to control what is done with his creation. But it is clear that this opinion is not shared by the leagues of copyright defenders.