Cory Doctorow has a fascinating post, Why I Copyfight, on the copyright/copyfight issues that continue to plague mankind. It is more than worth a read. Is rollup of the past to where we are today is fascinating in and of itself, but the entire piece is worth your time. Here’s hoping many do. Here’s a quote that sums up the entire paradox:
Clip a Dilbert cartoon and stick it on your office door and you're not violating copyright. Take a picture of your office door and put it on your homepage so that the same co-workers can see it, and you've violated copyright law, and since copyright law treats copying as such a rarified activity, it assesses penalties that run to the hundreds of thousands of dollars for each act of infringement.
As the discussions continue to heat up about copyright reform, perhaps thoughtful approaches like this will make a difference. I somehow doubt it though when the pervasive instinct of many is about protecting business models and not about issues of culture.
