[pp.int.general] Commercial use of functional works

Edison Carter the.real.edison.carter at gmail.com
Thu Dec 3 01:22:08 CET 2009


On Wed, Dec 2, 2009 at 8:31 PM, Richard Stallman <rms at gnu.org> wrote:

>    I don't think there is such a problem with "Functional works' though.
>    Copyright applies only to the person doing the copying. If I have been
> given
>    a copy of a dictionary then it becomes my dictionary to use as I like,
> as
>    long as I am not making further copies of it.
>
> In my opinion (which the Pirate Party may not agree with), works of
> practical use, which include dictionaries as well as software, ought
> to be free.
>

The pirate party is a collection of individuals, so not all of us will agree
to any point of view on any issue. My view is that artistic and functional
works should be treated exactly the same; a short (5 or 10 year) copyright
that applies only to 'distribution in exchange for money' commercial
publishing.

Any non-commercial distribution (which I define as any distribution where
the recipient does not have to pay any money, even if the distributor finds
some other way of making money along the way) should be unrestricted.

And any use of the work that does not involve distributing a copy for money
should also be unrestricted. (In my view though, PPV streaming etc counts as
'distributing a copy for money' because in the absence of any DRM system it
will always be possible to retain a copy.
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