summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/public-domain-manifesto.html
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/public-domain-manifesto.html')
-rw-r--r--talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/public-domain-manifesto.html155
1 files changed, 155 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/public-domain-manifesto.html b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/public-domain-manifesto.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9d475d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/public-domain-manifesto.html
@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" -->
+<!-- Parent-Version: 1.90 -->
+<title>Why I Will Not Sign the Public Domain Manifesto
+- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
+<link rel="canonical" href="http://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/public-domain-manifesto" />
+<!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/public-domain-manifesto.translist" -->
+<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" -->
+<h2>Why I Will Not Sign the Public Domain Manifesto</h2>
+
+<p>by <a href="http://www.stallman.org/">Richard M. Stallman</a></p>
+
+<p>The Public Domain Manifesto
+(<a href="https://publicdomainmanifesto.org/manifesto/">https://publicdomainmanifesto.org/manifesto/</a>)
+has its heart in the right place as it objects to some of the unjust
+extensions of copyright power, so I wish I could support it. However,
+it falls far short of what is needed.</p>
+
+<p>Some flaws are at the level of implicit assumptions. The manifesto
+frequently uses <a href="/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html">propaganda
+terms</a> of the copyright industry, such as
+<a href="/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#Protection">&ldquo;copyright
+protection&rdquo;</a>. These terms were chosen to lead people to
+sympathize with the copyright industry and its demands for power.</p>
+
+<p>The manifesto and its signatories use the term &ldquo;intellectual
+property&rdquo;, which confuses the issue of copyright by lumping it
+together with a dozen other laws that have nothing significant in
+common.
+(See <a href="/philosophy/not-ipr.html">http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html</a>
+for more explanation about this point.) Ironically it uses the term
+first in a sentence which points out that this manifesto is concerned
+only with copyright law, not with those other laws. That is with good
+reason: the other laws are not relevant to copying and using published
+works. If we seek to teach the public to distinguish between these
+laws, we should avoid setting an example which spuriously lumps them
+together.</p>
+
+<p>General Principle 2 repeats the common error that copyright should
+balance the public interest with &ldquo;protecting and rewarding the
+author&rdquo;. This error interferes with proper judgment of any
+copyright policy question, since that should be based on the public
+interest.
+<a href="/philosophy/misinterpreting-copyright.html">http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/misinterpreting-copyright.html</a>
+explains this error and how to avoid it.</p>
+
+<p>It would be difficult to stand aside from a campaign for the right
+goals merely because it was written with unclear words. However, the
+manifesto falls far short in its specific goals too. It is not that I
+oppose them. Any one of its demands, individually, would be a step
+forward, even though the wording of some of them discourages me from
+signing my name to them.</p>
+
+<p>Rather the problem is that it fails to ask for the most important
+points. I cannot say, &ldquo;This manifesto is what I stand
+for.&rdquo; I cannot say, &ldquo;I support what's in this
+manifesto,&rdquo; unless I can add, equally visibly, &ldquo;But it
+fails to mention the most important points of all.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>General Principle 5 opposes contracts that restrict use of copies
+of public domain works. But where we most need to oppose such
+contracts is where they apply to works that are still copyrighted
+(this is how Amazon tries to claim that you don't own the e-book that
+you bought). Likewise, General Principle 5
+condemns <abbr title="Digital Restrictions Management">DRM</abbr>,
+but only when it applies to a public domain work. In effect, it
+legitimizes most real DRM by omitting it from criticism.</p>
+
+<p>I've saved the biggest omission for last. General Recommendation 9
+calls for allowing &ldquo;personal copying&rdquo; of copyrighted
+works. Since it omits the issue of the freedom to share copies of
+published works with others, it fails to address the nastiest aspect
+of copyright: the
+vicious <a href="http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/war-on-sharing-riaa-lawsuits">War
+on Sharing</a> that the entertainment companies are now waging.</p>
+
+<p>The demands and recommendations of the Public Domain Manifesto
+would be a step forward. It may do some good if it inspires people
+who have accepted the industry position to begin to doubt it.
+However, if we adopt this manifesto as our goal, it will distract us
+from what we really need to fight for.</p>
+
+<p>The Public Domain Manifesto tries to defend our freedom within the
+walled garden of the public domain, but abandons that freedom outside
+it. This is not enough.</p>
+
+<p>I ask the authors of the Public Domain Manifesto, and the public,
+to please join me in demanding the freedom to noncommercially share
+copies of all published works. Also please
+join <a href="http://defectivebydesign.org">DefectiveByDesign.org</a>
+and help our fight against DRM wherever it may be found.</p>
+
+</div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above -->
+<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" -->
+<div id="footer">
+<div class="unprintable">
+
+<p>Please send general FSF &amp; GNU inquiries to
+<a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org">&lt;gnu@gnu.org&gt;</a>.
+There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a>
+the FSF. Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent
+to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org">&lt;webmasters@gnu.org&gt;</a>.</p>
+
+<p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph,
+ replace it with the translation of these two:
+
+ We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality
+ translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection.
+ Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard
+ to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org">
+ &lt;web-translators@gnu.org&gt;</a>.</p>
+
+ <p>For information on coordinating and submitting translations of
+ our web pages, see <a
+ href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
+ README</a>. -->
+Please see the <a
+href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
+README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting translations
+of this article.</p>
+</div>
+
+<!-- Regarding copyright, in general, standalone pages (as opposed to
+ files generated as part of manuals) on the GNU web server should
+ be under CC BY-ND 4.0. Please do NOT change or remove this
+ without talking with the webmasters or licensing team first.
+ Please make sure the copyright date is consistent with the
+ document. For web pages, it is ok to list just the latest year the
+ document was modified, or published.
+
+ If you wish to list earlier years, that is ok too.
+ Either "2001, 2002, 2003" or "2001-2003" are ok for specifying
+ years, as long as each year in the range is in fact a copyrightable
+ year, i.e., a year in which the document was published (including
+ being publicly visible on the web or in a revision control system).
+
+ There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers
+ Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. -->
+
+<p>Copyright &copy; 2010, 2015, 2019, 2020 Richard Stallman</p>
+
+<p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license"
+href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">Creative
+Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.</p>
+
+<!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" -->
+
+<p class="unprintable">Updated:
+<!-- timestamp start -->
+$Date: 2020/07/01 15:25:23 $
+<!-- timestamp end -->
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+</body>
+</html>