Thread by @AlexandraErin

Worst response I received today was the Reply Guy telling me the stated purpose of US copyright laws when I was talking about the purpose they serve today.

Do I look like an 18th century gentleman with eligible daughters?

No?

Then I don't care about Ben Franklin's intentions.

Throw out copyright as a concept and the big money fight goes from who controls the content to who controls the platforms.

Can't really see that being the downfall of something like the House of Mouse, personally. Money still wins, and they still have the infrastructure.

The concept of intellectual property has been abused to absurd degrees by giant corporations but it's also the only thing that somewhat halfway forces them to deal with individual creators equitably, and that allows us to make a living outside them.

If we're learning nothing from the year Two Thousand And Covid, it's that giant corporations have more ways to ride out giant disruptions than individuals and small-time independent operators.

So I don't have a lot of sympathy for people who want to weaken or destroy copyright as a concept.

(Shorten it? Sure. Tighten it up? Sure.)

Because copyright, right now, serves an essential purpose in the artistic ecosystem.

Is it what was originally envisioned? Eh. Don't really care. But allowing individuals to profit from their artistic creations is closer to the "progress of the arts" wording than the part where giant corporations can own shared cultural experiences forever.

"Information wants to be free" is well and good but some "information" only exists because a person labored to arrange it in an entertaining pattern and that labor is... labor.

The pandemic is also showing us why you need the alternative means of support in place before you wipe whole classes of jobs out of existence.

"But why should artists get special protection?"

I mean, we shouldn't. But why add to the burden on inadequate support systems now/

"But why fight to defend a system that has you and your friends scrabbling and scrapping to barely make a living?"

Put up an alternative. And I don't mean an idea like universal income. Put it in place. If you don't, we'll just be scrabbling harder for less when you "free" us.

If you want to know why so many people who hate the current system are lukewarm on revolution, take a look around. A disruptive crisis like the pandemic is, in some regards, a fully functioning revolution simulator. Many important systems have gone away. Nothing's replaced them.