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  • From: Gisle Hannemyr <gisle AT ifi.uio.no>
  • To: cc-europe AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [CC-Europe] EDRI
  • Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:27:47 +0200

On 02.04.2012 16:35, Alek Tarkowski wrote:
> Dear Gisle (and everyone else),
>
> It seems that our discussion boils down to this: does promotion and
> stewardship of CC licenses is a form of advocacy done differently? If
> so, then CC should for example support, at least to some extent, legal
> reform that makes our voluntary mechanisms part of the law itself.

The way I see it, our voluntary mechanisms *are* already part
of the law itself. Any voluntary mechanism such at CC licenses and
the GPL have one very solid foundation: Copyright law and its power
to grant the creator of a work a *sovereign* right to determine how
the work should be disseminated to the public and used - including
the right to make the work freely available to the public.

As a creator of texts and photos, I hold that sovereignty dear.

Needless to say, I also see no ally in the international rights piracy
movement. Quite the opposite: Their activities seems to be directed
towards the opposite goal: To take sovereignty *away* from the creator.

Take, for instance, a closer look a the following quote from the late
Swedish pirate Ibi «Kopimi» Botani (originally posted on the Piratbyrån
board in 2006):

Like the spoken word, culture is transformed when it is distributed.
It is not possible to distinguish distribution of culture from the
"creative process" because it is virtually the same thing. Language
becomes meaningless and culture will die if it is not
distributed. Copyright laws are laws that are based on an absurd
idea that culture is created out of nothing. Copyright law is
actually just another ploy by the State to steal the work of
others. To distribute culture is to create culture.

Now, he has the gift of the gab, I'll give him that. But if you
look beyond the rhetoric, what's left is a statement to the effect
that copying is "the same thing" as creating (which it isn't),
topped by some reactionary Fox News-type claptrap about an evil
State stealing from others.

> And if it's not, CC should be agnostic towards any copyright reform.

I don't argue that the CC should be agnostic towards *any*
copyright reform.

Clearly, copyright law is totally out of sync with modern realities
(like the Internet). It is in dire *need* of reform. But the CC must
be careful of what type of copyright reform it champions. My personal
opinion is that extreme simplistic approach to copyright reform that
is currently suggested by the pirate movement and their fellow
travellers (e.g. EDRI and EFF) will (if it succeeds) do real harm to
popular culture by setting us back in the era before before copyright
- when creative work either required a rich sponsor or patron, or that
the artist was prepared to starve.

> Gisle, when you suggest that we should oppose any activities that make
> CC licenses redundant
> - I must admit I find such an approach shocking.

But I don't suggest that. I said that I *could* take the position
you find so shocking in a public debate - but I also said that
I *wont*.

I've said over and over at I think CC (as such) should stay away from
taking a public position in these debates, for a number of reasons,
including the reason that it is not clear to me what the "correct"
position from a CC viewpoint is.

> But again, this all depends on the answer to the question: why do we
> promote CC licenses?

Well, I guess we all have *different* reasons for that.

For me, the main motivation is to demonstrate that it is feasible
to exercise alternatives to the outdated "all rights reserved"
approach to copyright *within* the existing legal framework.
--
- gisle hannemyr [ gisle{at}hannemyr.no - http://folk.uio.no/gisle/ ]
========================================================================
"Don't follow leaders // Watch the parkin' meters" - Bob Dylan




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