CRAIGforCONGRESS
Missouri's 7th District, U.S. House of Representatives

 

 

 

Congressional Issues 2010
THREATS TO CIVIL LIBERTIES
Intellectual Property
Congress should:
repeal intellectual property laws, even though the Constitution allows them.

"In the beginning was the Word...." John 1:1

Every new idea is the connection between two previous ideas. When a stand-up comic in Los Angeles creates a joke, he connects two ideas that we had never connected before, in a way that makes us laugh.  When a stand-up comic in New York connects the same two ideas at exactly the same time as the comic in L.A., he has his lawyer draw up copyright papers which are filed in Washington D.C. That night, in two separate night-clubs, the comics recite their jokes. The next day, the New York comic sues the L.A. comic for infringement of copyright. The L.A. comic stands his ground, denying that he plagiarized the New York comic. But in court, the New York comic proves he filed his papers first, the L.A. comic loses, and if he refuses to pay the extortion demanded of him, he will be locked up in a federal prison with a psychopath who will inflict unspeakable violence on the comic.

An assistant at a grocery store in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, was ordered by the Performing Right Society (PRS) to obtain a performer's license and to pay royalties because she was informally singing popular songs while stocking groceries. The PRS later backed down and apologized. This after the same store had turned off the radio after a warning from the PRS. We have entered an era where music is no longer an art for all to enjoy, but rather a form of private property that must be regulated and taxed like alcohol. 'Music to the ears' has become 'dollars in the bank.'"
Slashdot Entertainment Story | Singer In Grocery Store Ordered To Pay Royalties

George Washington is reported to have said,

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force. Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. . . .

Intellectual property laws are the use of force and violence to restrict the spread of ideas. Of words.

Dissent: In Support of the Concept of Intellectual Property...
George Reisman argues that if you believe "identity theft" is wrong, you must believe that theft of "intellectual property" is also wrong.
Stephen Kinsella:

You may find of interest these blog posts:

Other miscellaneous posts on IP:

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