public-domain-manifesto.html (7968B)
1 <!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" --> 2 <!-- Parent-Version: 1.96 --> 3 <!-- This page is derived from /server/standards/boilerplate.html --> 4 <!--#set var="TAGS" value="essays laws copyright" --> 5 <!--#set var="DISABLE_TOP_ADDENDUM" value="yes" --> 6 <title>Why I Will Not Sign the Public Domain Manifesto 7 - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> 8 <link rel="canonical" href="http://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/public-domain-manifesto" /> 9 <!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/public-domain-manifesto.translist" --> 10 <!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" --> 11 <!--#include virtual="/philosophy/ph-breadcrumb.html" --> 12 <!--GNUN: OUT-OF-DATE NOTICE--> 13 <!--#include virtual="/server/top-addendum.html" --> 14 <div class="article reduced-width"> 15 <h2>Why I Will Not Sign the Public Domain Manifesto</h2> 16 17 <address class="byline">by <a href="https://www.stallman.org/">Richard 18 Stallman</a></address> 19 20 <p>The <a 21 href="https://publicdomainmanifesto.org/manifesto/">Public Domain Manifesto</a> 22 has its heart in the right place as it objects to some of the unjust 23 extensions of copyright power, so I wish I could support it. However, 24 it falls far short of what is needed.</p> 25 26 <p>Some flaws are at the level of implicit assumptions. The manifesto 27 frequently uses <a href="/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html">propaganda 28 terms</a> of the copyright industry, such as 29 “<a href="/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#Protection">copyright 30 protection</a>.” These terms were chosen to lead people to 31 sympathize with the copyright industry and its demands for power.</p> 32 33 <p>The manifesto and its signatories use the term “intellectual 34 property,” which confuses the issue of copyright by lumping it 35 together with a dozen other laws that have nothing significant in 36 common. 37 (See “<a href="/philosophy/not-ipr.html">Did You Say 38 ‘Intellectual Property’? It's a Seductive Mirage</a>” 39 for more explanation about this point.) Ironically it uses the term 40 first in a sentence which points out that this manifesto is concerned 41 only with copyright law, not with those other laws. That is with good 42 reason: the other laws are not relevant to copying and using published 43 works. If we seek to teach the public to distinguish between these 44 laws, we should avoid setting an example which spuriously lumps them 45 together.</p> 46 47 <p>General Principle 2 repeats the common error that copyright should 48 balance the public interest with “protecting and rewarding the 49 author.” This error interferes with proper judgment of any 50 copyright policy question, since that should be based on the public 51 interest. “<a 52 href="/philosophy/misinterpreting-copyright.html">Misinterpreting 53 Copyright—A Series of Errors</a>” 54 explains this error and how to avoid it.</p> 55 56 <p>It would be difficult to stand aside from a campaign for the right 57 goals merely because it was written with unclear words. However, the 58 manifesto falls far short in its specific goals too. It is not that I 59 oppose them. Any one of its demands, individually, would be a step 60 forward, even though the wording of some of them discourages me from 61 signing my name to them.</p> 62 63 <p>Rather the problem is that it fails to ask for the most important 64 points. I cannot say, “This manifesto is what I stand 65 for.” I cannot say, “I support what's in this 66 manifesto,” unless I can add, equally visibly, “But it 67 fails to mention the most important points of all.”</p> 68 69 <p>General Principle 5 opposes contracts that restrict use of copies 70 of public domain works. But where we most need to oppose such 71 contracts is where they apply to works that are still copyrighted 72 (this is how Amazon tries to claim that you don't own the e-book that 73 you bought). Likewise, General Principle 5 74 condemns <abbr title="Digital Restrictions Management">DRM</abbr>, 75 but only when it applies to a public domain work. In effect, it 76 legitimizes most real DRM by omitting it from criticism.</p> 77 78 <p>I've saved the biggest omission for last. General Recommendation 9 79 calls for allowing “personal copying” of copyrighted 80 works. Since it omits the issue of the freedom to share copies of 81 published works with others, it fails to address the nastiest aspect 82 of copyright: the vicious <a 83 href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/war-on-sharing-riaa-lawsuits">War 84 on Sharing</a> that the entertainment companies are now waging.</p> 85 86 <p>The demands and recommendations of the Public Domain Manifesto 87 would be a step forward. It may do some good if it inspires people 88 who have accepted the industry position to begin to doubt it. 89 However, if we adopt this manifesto as our goal, it will distract us 90 from what we really need to fight for.</p> 91 92 <p>The Public Domain Manifesto tries to defend our freedom within the 93 walled garden of the public domain, but abandons that freedom outside 94 it. This is not enough.</p> 95 96 <p>I ask the authors of the Public Domain Manifesto, and the public, 97 to please join me in demanding the freedom to noncommercially share 98 copies of all published works. Also please 99 join <a href="https://www.defectivebydesign.org">Defective by Design</a> 100 and help our fight against DRM wherever it may be found.</p> 101 </div> 102 103 </div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above --> 104 <!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" --> 105 <div id="footer" role="contentinfo"> 106 <div class="unprintable"> 107 108 <p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to 109 <a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. 110 There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a> 111 the FSF. Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent 112 to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>.</p> 113 114 <p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, 115 replace it with the translation of these two: 116 117 We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality 118 translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. 119 Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard 120 to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> 121 <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> 122 123 <p>For information on coordinating and contributing translations of 124 our web pages, see <a 125 href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations 126 README</a>. --> 127 Please see the <a 128 href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations 129 README</a> for information on coordinating and contributing translations 130 of this article.</p> 131 </div> 132 133 <!-- Regarding copyright, in general, standalone pages (as opposed to 134 files generated as part of manuals) on the GNU web server should 135 be under CC BY-ND 4.0. Please do NOT change or remove this 136 without talking with the webmasters or licensing team first. 137 Please make sure the copyright date is consistent with the 138 document. For web pages, it is ok to list just the latest year the 139 document was modified, or published. 140 141 If you wish to list earlier years, that is ok too. 142 Either "2001, 2002, 2003" or "2001-2003" are ok for specifying 143 years, as long as each year in the range is in fact a copyrightable 144 year, i.e., a year in which the document was published (including 145 being publicly visible on the web or in a revision control system). 146 147 There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers 148 Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. --> 149 150 <p>Copyright © 2010, 2021 Richard Stallman</p> 151 152 <p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license" 153 href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">Creative 154 Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.</p> 155 156 <!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" --> 157 158 <p class="unprintable">Updated: 159 <!-- timestamp start --> 160 $Date: 2021/09/19 16:26:24 $ 161 <!-- timestamp end --> 162 </p> 163 </div> 164 </div><!-- for class="inner", starts in the banner include --> 165 </body> 166 </html>