Wednesday, September 08, 2004

Copyright to the Test

Copy-art.net is a website that offers some arty downloads for free. By doing so it "intends to challenge the idea of intellectual property and test its limits in a copyright-free zone." Sorry, come again? Okay:
"In a copyright free society, ideas and works become more precious rather than more vulnerable, as many believe. The more ideas and works are circulated, the more valued these ideas and works will become. What you see and learn becomes part of your knowledge and nobody can change this. Your intellectual property becomes everyone's property. To give people the freedom to copy ideas and works and get inspiration from this process is something that we need to consider seriously."
Vagueness bonanza!
Interesting, copyrighted ideas, what might the IP limit on them be? Non-existent, maybe?
What I see becomes part of my knowledge and nobody can change this? Have I got an undeletable photographic memory?
And my intellectual property becomes everyone's else's? Is the ghost of Marx wandering through the site?

And how is IP to test its limits anyway, if it's supposed to be a copyright-free zone?
IP: "Hi, can I come in and test my limits, please?"
Copy-art.net: "Sorry, but this is a copyright-free zone, entrance verboten for IP."

So, a selective door policy?
No, not really, all works (and ideas) are distributed under Creative Commons licenses, the hippest clubbers of the IP world. They can enter the copyright-free zone anytime. But hey, attribution mandatory and no commercial uses of the works.
Sssst, don't tell the challengers of IP, CC is copyright in disguise.
- - -
Thru IPKat

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