# LANGUAGE translation of https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/misinterpreting-copyright.html # Copyright (C) YEAR Free Software Foundation, Inc. # This file is distributed under the same license as the original article. # FIRST AUTHOR , YEAR. # #, fuzzy msgid "" msgstr "" "Project-Id-Version: misinterpreting-copyright.html\n" "POT-Creation-Date: 2021-11-28 10:27+0000\n" "PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE\n" "Last-Translator: FULL NAME \n" "Language-Team: LANGUAGE \n" "Language: \n" "MIME-Version: 1.0\n" "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\n" "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n" #. type: Content of: msgid "Misinterpreting Copyright - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h2> msgid "Misinterpreting Copyright—A Series of Errors" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><address> msgid "by <a href=\"https://stallman.org/\">Richard Stallman</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Something strange and dangerous is happening in copyright law. Under the US " "Constitution, copyright exists to benefit users—those who read books, " "listen to music, watch movies, or run software—not for the sake of " "publishers or authors. Yet even as people tend increasingly to reject and " "disobey the copyright restrictions imposed on them “for their own " "benefit,” the US government is adding more restrictions, and trying to " "frighten the public into obedience with harsh new penalties." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "How did copyright policies come to be diametrically opposed to their stated " "purpose? And how can we bring them back into alignment with that purpose? To " "understand, we should start by looking at the root of United States " "copyright law: the US Constitution." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Copyright in the US Constitution" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "When the US Constitution was drafted, the idea that authors were entitled to " "a copyright monopoly was proposed—and rejected. The founders of our " "country adopted a different premise, that copyright is not a natural right " "of authors, but an artificial concession made to them for the sake of " "progress. The Constitution gives permission for a copyright system with " "this paragraph (Article I, Section 8):" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><blockquote><p> msgid "" "[Congress shall have the power] to promote the Progress of Science and the " "useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the " "exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed that promoting progress means " "benefit for the users of copyrighted works. For example, in <em>Fox Film " "v. Doyal</em>, the court said," msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><blockquote><p> msgid "" "The sole interest of the United States and the primary object in conferring " "the [copyright] monopoly lie in the general benefits derived by the public " "from the labors of authors." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This fundamental decision explains why copyright is not <b>required</b> by " "the Constitution, only <b>permitted</b> as an option—and why it is " "supposed to last for “limited times.” If copyright were a " "natural right, something that authors have because they deserve it, nothing " "could justify terminating this right after a certain period of time, any " "more than everyone's house should become public property after a certain " "lapse of time from its construction." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "The “copyright bargain”" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The copyright system works by providing privileges and thus benefits to " "publishers and authors; but it does not do this for their sake. Rather, it " "does this to modify their behavior: to provide an incentive for authors to " "write more and publish more. In effect, the government spends the public's " "natural rights, on the public's behalf, as part of a deal to bring the " "public more published works. Legal scholars call this concept the " "“copyright bargain.” It is like a government purchase of a " "highway or an airplane using taxpayers' money, except that the government " "spends our freedom instead of our money." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "But is the bargain as it exists actually a good deal for the public? Many " "alternative bargains are possible; which one is best? Every issue of " "copyright policy is part of this question. If we misunderstand the nature " "of the question, we will tend to decide the issues badly." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The Constitution authorizes granting copyright powers to authors. In " "practice, authors typically cede them to publishers; it is usually the " "publishers, not the authors, who exercise these powers and get most of the " "benefits, though authors may get a small portion. Thus it is usually the " "publishers that lobby to increase copyright powers. To better reflect the " "reality of copyright rather than the myth, this article refers to publishers " "rather than authors as the holders of copyright powers. It also refers to " "the users of copyrighted works as “readers,” even though using " "them does not always mean reading, because “the users” is remote " "and abstract." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "The first error: “striking a balance”" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The copyright bargain places the public first: benefit for the reading " "public is an end in itself; benefits (if any) for publishers are just a " "means toward that end. Readers' interests and publishers' interests are " "thus qualitatively unequal in priority. The first step in misinterpreting " "the purpose of copyright is the elevation of the publishers to the same " "level of importance as the readers." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "It is often said that US copyright law is meant to “strike a " "balance” between the interests of publishers and readers. Those who " "cite this interpretation present it as a restatement of the basic position " "stated in the Constitution; in other words, it is supposed to be equivalent " "to the copyright bargain." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "But the two interpretations are far from equivalent; they are different " "conceptually, and different in their implications. The balance concept " "assumes that the readers' and publishers' interests differ in importance " "only quantitatively, in <em>how much weight</em> we should give them, and in " "what actions they apply to. The term “stakeholders” is often " "used to frame the issue in this way; it assumes that all kinds of interest " "in a policy decision are equally important. This view rejects the " "qualitative distinction between the readers' and publishers' interests which " "is at the root of the government's participation in the copyright bargain." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The consequences of this alteration are far-reaching, because the great " "protection for the public in the copyright bargain—the idea that " "copyright privileges can be justified only in the name of the readers, never " "in the name of the publishers—is discarded by the " "“balance” interpretation. Since the interest of the publishers " "is regarded as an end in itself, it can justify copyright privileges; in " "other words, the “balance” concept says that privileges can be " "justified in the name of someone other than the public." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "As a practical matter, the consequence of the “balance” concept " "is to reverse the burden of justification for changes in copyright law. The " "copyright bargain places the burden on the publishers to convince the " "readers to cede certain freedoms. The concept of balance reverses this " "burden, practically speaking, because there is generally no doubt that " "publishers will benefit from additional privilege. Unless harm to the " "readers can be proved, sufficient to “outweigh” this benefit, we " "are led to conclude that the publishers are entitled to almost any privilege " "they request." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Since the idea of “striking a balance” between publishers and " "readers denies the readers the primacy they are entitled to, we must reject " "it." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Balancing against what?" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "When the government buys something for the public, it acts on behalf of the " "public; its responsibility is to obtain the best possible deal—best " "for the public, not for the other party in the agreement." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "For example, when signing contracts with construction companies to build " "highways, the government aims to spend as little as possible of the public's " "money. Government agencies use competitive bidding to push the price down." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "As a practical matter, the price cannot be zero, because contractors will " "not bid that low. Although not entitled to special consideration, they have " "the usual rights of citizens in a free society, including the right to " "refuse disadvantageous contracts; even the lowest bid will be high enough " "for some contractor to make money. So there is indeed a balance, of a " "kind. But it is not a deliberate balancing of two interests each with claim " "to special consideration. It is a balance between a public goal and market " "forces. The government tries to obtain for the taxpaying motorists the best " "deal they can get in the context of a free society and a free market." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "In the copyright bargain, the government spends our freedom instead of our " "money. Freedom is more precious than money, so government's responsibility " "to spend our freedom wisely and frugally is even greater than its " "responsibility to spend our money thus. Governments must never put the " "publishers' interests on a par with the public's freedom." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Not “balance” but “trade-off”" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The idea of balancing the readers' interests against the publishers' is the " "wrong way to judge copyright policy, but there are indeed two interests to " "be weighed: two interests <b>of the readers</b>. Readers have an interest " "in their own freedom in using published works; depending on circumstances, " "they may also have an interest in encouraging publication through some kind " "of incentive system." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The word “balance,” in discussions of copyright, has come to " "stand as shorthand for the idea of “striking a balance” between " "the readers and the publishers. Therefore, to use the word " "“balance” in regard to the readers' two interests would be " "confusing.<a href=\"#footnote1\">[1]</a> We need another term." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "In general, when one party has two goals that partly conflict, and cannot " "completely achieve both of them, we call this a “trade-off.” " "Therefore, rather than speaking of “striking the right balance” " "between parties, we should speak of “finding the right trade-off " "between spending our freedom and keeping it.”" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "The second error: maximizing one output" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The second mistake in copyright policy consists of adopting the goal of " "maximizing—not just increasing—the number of published works. " "The erroneous concept of “striking a balance” elevated the " "publishers to parity with the readers; this second error places them far " "above the readers." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "When we purchase something, we do not generally buy the whole quantity in " "stock or the most expensive model. Instead we conserve funds for other " "purchases, by buying only what we need of any particular good, and choosing " "a model of sufficient rather than highest quality. The principle of " "diminishing returns suggests that spending all our money on one particular " "good is likely to be an inefficient allocation of resources; we generally " "choose to keep some money for another use." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Diminishing returns applies to copyright just as to any other purchase. The " "first freedoms we should trade away are those we miss the least, and whose " "sacrifice gives the largest encouragement to publication. As we trade " "additional freedoms that cut closer to home, we find that each trade is a " "bigger sacrifice than the last, while bringing a smaller increment in " "literary activity. Well before the increment becomes zero, we may well say " "it is not worth its incremental price; we would then settle on a bargain " "whose overall result is to increase the amount of publication, but not to " "the utmost possible extent." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Accepting the goal of maximizing publication rejects all these wiser, more " "advantageous bargains in advance—it dictates that the public must cede " "nearly all of its freedom to use published works, for just a little more " "publication." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "The rhetoric of maximization" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "In practice, the goal of maximizing publication regardless of the cost to " "freedom is supported by widespread rhetoric which asserts that public " "copying is illegitimate, unfair, and intrinsically wrong. For instance, the " "publishers call people who copy “pirates,” a smear term designed " "to equate sharing information with your neighbor with attacking a ship. " "(This smear term was formerly used by authors to describe publishers who " "found lawful ways to publish unauthorized editions; its modern use by the " "publishers is almost the reverse.) This rhetoric directly rejects the " "constitutional basis for copyright, but presents itself as representing the " "unquestioned tradition of the American legal system." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The “pirate” rhetoric is typically accepted because it so " "pervades the media that few people realize how radical it is. It is " "effective because if copying by the public is fundamentally illegitimate, we " "can never object to the publishers' demand that we surrender our freedom to " "do so. In other words, when the public is challenged to show why publishers " "should not receive some additional power, the most important reason of " "all—“We want to copy”—is disqualified in advance." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This leaves no way to argue against increasing copyright power except using " "side issues. Hence, opposition to stronger copyright powers today almost " "exclusively cites side issues, and never dares cite the freedom to " "distribute copies as a legitimate public value." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "As a practical matter, the goal of maximization enables publishers to argue " "that “A certain practice is reducing our sales—or we think it " "might—so we presume it diminishes publication by some unknown amount, " "and therefore it should be prohibited.” We are led to the outrageous " "conclusion that the public good is measured by publishers' sales: What's " "good for General Media is good for the USA." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "The third error: maximizing publishers' power" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Once the publishers have obtained assent to the policy goal of maximizing " "publication output at any cost, their next step is to infer that this " "requires giving them the maximum possible powers—making copyright " "cover every imaginable use of a work, or applying some other legal tool such " "as “shrink wrap” licenses to equivalent effect. This goal, " "which entails the abolition of “fair use” and the “right " "of first sale,” is being pressed at every available level of " "government, from states of the US to international bodies." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This step is erroneous because strict copyright rules obstruct the creation " "of useful new works. For instance, Shakespeare borrowed the plots of some " "of his plays from works others had published a few decades before, so if " "today's copyright law had been in effect, his plays would have been illegal." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Even if we wanted the highest possible rate of publication, regardless of " "cost to the public, maximizing publishers' power is the wrong way to get " "it. As a means of promoting progress, it is self-defeating." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "The results of the three errors" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The current trend in copyright legislation is to hand publishers broader " "powers for longer periods of time. The conceptual basis of copyright, as it " "emerges distorted from the series of errors, rarely offers a basis for " "saying no. Legislators give lip service to the idea that copyright serves " "the public, while in fact giving publishers whatever they ask for." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "For example, here is what Senator Hatch said when introducing S. 483, a 1995 " "bill to increase the term of copyright by 20 years:" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><blockquote><p> msgid "" "I believe we are now at such a point with respect to the question of whether " "the current term of copyright adequately protects the interests of authors " "and the related question of whether the term of protection continues to " "provide a sufficient incentive for the creation of new works of authorship." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This bill extended the copyright on already published works written since " "the 1920s. This change was a giveaway to publishers with no possible " "benefit to the public, since there is no way to retroactively increase now " "the number of books published back then. Yet it cost the public a freedom " "that is meaningful today—the freedom to redistribute books from that " "era. Note the use of the propaganda term, “<a " "href=\"/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#Protection\" >protect</a>,” " "which embodies the second of the three errors." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The bill also extended the copyrights of works yet to be written. For works " "made for hire, copyright would last 95 years instead of the present 75 " "years. Theoretically this would increase the incentive to write new works; " "but any publisher that claims to need this extra incentive should be " "required substantiate the claim with projected balance sheets for 75 years " "in the future." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Needless to say, Congress did not question the publishers' arguments: a law " "extending copyright was enacted in 1998. It was officially called the Sonny " "Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, named after one of its sponsors who died " "earlier that year. We usually call it the Mickey Mouse Copyright Act, since " "we presume its real motive was to prevent the copyright on the appearance of " "Mickey Mouse from expiring. Bono's widow, who served the rest of his term, " "made this statement:" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><blockquote><p> msgid "" "Actually, Sonny wanted the term of copyright protection to last forever. I " "am informed by staff that such a change would violate the Constitution. I " "invite all of you to work with me to strengthen our copyright laws in all of " "the ways available to us. As you know, there is also Jack Valenti's proposal " "for term to last forever less one day. Perhaps the Committee may look at " "that next Congress." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The Supreme Court later heard a case that sought to overturn the law on the " "grounds that the retroactive extension fails to serve the Constitution's " "goal of promoting progress. The court responded by abdicating its " "responsibility to judge the question; on copyright, the Constitution " "requires only lip service." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Another law, passed in 1997, made it a felony to make sufficiently many " "copies of any published work, even if you give them away to friends just to " "be nice. Previously this was not a crime in the US at all." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "An even worse law, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), was designed " "to bring back what was then called “copy protection”—now " "known as <a href=\"/proprietary/proprietary-drm.html\">DRM</a> (Digital " "Restrictions Management)—which users already detested, by making it a " "crime to defeat the restrictions, or even publish information about how to " "defeat them. This law ought to be called the “Domination by Media " "Corporations Act” because it effectively offers publishers the chance " "to write their own copyright law. It says they can impose any restrictions " "whatsoever on the use of a work, and these restrictions take the force of " "law provided the work contains some sort of encryption or license manager to " "enforce them." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "One of the arguments offered for this bill was that it would implement a " "recent treaty to increase copyright powers. The treaty was promulgated by " "the World <a href=\"/philosophy/not-ipr.html\">Intellectual Property</a> " "Organization, an organization dominated by copyright- and patent-holding " "interests, with the aid of pressure from the Clinton administration; since " "the treaty only increases copyright power, whether it serves the public " "interest in any country is doubtful. In any case, the bill went far beyond " "what the treaty required." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Libraries were a key source of opposition to this bill, especially to the " "aspects that block the forms of copying that are considered fair use. How " "did the publishers respond? Former representative Pat Schroeder, now a " "lobbyist for the Association of American Publishers, said that the " "publishers “could not live with what [the libraries were] asking " "for.” Since the libraries were asking only to preserve part of the " "status quo, one might respond by wondering how the publishers had survived " "until the present day." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Congressman Barney Frank, in a meeting with me and others who opposed this " "bill, showed how far the US Constitution's view of copyright has been " "disregarded. He said that new powers, backed by criminal penalties, were " "needed urgently because the “movie industry is worried,” as well " "as the “music industry” and other “industries.” I " "asked him, “But is this in the public interest?” His response " "was telling: “Why are you talking about the public interest? These " "creative people don't have to give up their rights for the public " "interest!” The “industry” has been identified with the " "“creative people” it hires, copyright has been treated as its " "entitlement, and the Constitution has been turned upside down." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The DMCA was enacted in 1998. As enacted, it says that fair use remains " "nominally legitimate, but allows publishers to prohibit all software or " "hardware that you could practice it with. Effectively, fair use is " "prohibited." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Based on this law, the movie industry has imposed censorship on free " "software for reading and playing DVDs, and even on the information about how " "to read them. In April 2001, Professor Edward Felten of Princeton " "University was intimidated by lawsuit threats from the Recording Industry " "Association of America (RIAA) into withdrawing a scientific paper stating " "what he had learned about a proposed encryption system for restricting " "access to recorded music." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "We are also beginning to see e-books that take away many of readers' " "traditional freedoms—for instance, the freedom to lend a book to your " "friend, to sell it to a used book store, to borrow it from a library, to buy " "it without giving your name to a corporate data bank, even the freedom to " "read it twice. Encrypted e-books generally restrict all these " "activities—you can read them only with special secret software " "designed to restrict you." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "I will never buy one of these encrypted, restricted e-books, and I hope you " "will reject them too. If an e-book doesn't give you the same freedoms as a " "traditional paper book, don't accept it!" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Anyone independently releasing software that can read restricted e-books " "risks prosecution. A Russian programmer, Dmitry Sklyarov, was arrested in " "2001 while visiting the US to speak at a conference, because he had written " "such a program in Russia, where it was lawful to do so. Now Russia is " "preparing a law to prohibit it too, and the European Union recently adopted " "one." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Mass-market e-books have been a commercial failure so far, but not because " "readers chose to defend their freedom; they were unattractive for other " "reasons, such as that computer display screens are not easy surfaces to read " "from. We can't rely on this happy accident to protect us in the long term; " "the next attempt to promote e-books will use “electronic " "paper”—book-like objects into which an encrypted, restricted " "e-book can be downloaded. If this paper-like surface proves more appealing " "than today's display screens, we will have to defend our freedom in order to " "keep it. Meanwhile, e-books are making inroads in niches: NYU and other " "dental schools require students to buy their textbooks in the form of " "restricted e-books." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The media companies are not satisfied yet. In 2001, Disney-funded Senator " "Hollings proposed a bill called the “Security Systems Standards and " "Certification Act” (SSSCA)<a href=\"#footnote2\">[2]</a>, which would " "require all computers (and other digital recording and playback devices) to " "have government-mandated copy-restriction systems. That is their ultimate " "goal, but the first item on their agenda is to prohibit any equipment that " "can tune digital HDTV unless it is designed to be impossible for the public " "to “tamper with” (i.e., modify for their own purposes). Since " "free software is software that users can modify, we face here for the first " "time a proposed law that explicitly prohibits free software for a certain " "job. Prohibition of other jobs will surely follow. If the FCC adopts this " "rule, existing free software such as GNU Radio would be censored." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "To block these bills and rules requires political action.<a " "href=\"#footnote3\">[3]</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Finding the right bargain" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "What is the proper way to decide copyright policy? If copyright is a bargain " "made on behalf of the public, it should serve the public interest above " "all. The government's duty when selling the public's freedom is to sell " "only what it must, and sell it as dearly as possible. At the very least, we " "should pare back the extent of copyright as much as possible while " "maintaining a comparable level of publication." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Since we cannot find this minimum price in freedom through competitive " "bidding, as we do for construction projects, how can we find it?" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "One possible method is to reduce copyright privileges in stages, and observe " "the results. By seeing if and when measurable diminutions in publication " "occur, we will learn how much copyright power is really necessary to achieve " "the public's purposes. We must judge this by actual observation, not by " "what publishers say will happen, because they have every incentive to make " "exaggerated predictions of doom if their powers are reduced in any way." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Copyright policy includes several independent dimensions, which can be " "adjusted separately. After we find the necessary minimum for one policy " "dimension, it may still be possible to reduce other dimensions of copyright " "while maintaining the desired publication level." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "One important dimension of copyright is its duration, which is now typically " "on the order of a century. Reducing the monopoly on copying to ten years, " "starting from the date when a work is published, would be a good first " "step. Another aspect of copyright, which covers the making of derivative " "works, could continue for a longer period." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Why count from the date of publication? Because copyright on unpublished " "works does not directly limit readers' freedom; whether we are free to copy " "a work is moot when we do not have copies. So giving authors a longer time " "to get a work published does no harm. Authors (who generally do own the " "copyright prior to publication) will rarely choose to delay publication just " "to push back the end of the copyright term." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Why ten years? Because that is a safe proposal; we can be confident on " "practical grounds that this reduction would have little impact on the " "overall viability of publishing today. In most media and genres, successful " "works are very profitable in just a few years, and even successful works are " "usually out of print well before ten. Even for reference works, whose " "useful life may be many decades, ten-year copyright should suffice: updated " "editions are issued regularly, and many readers will buy the copyrighted " "current edition rather than copy a ten-year-old public domain version." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Ten years may still be longer than necessary; once things settle down, we " "could try a further reduction to tune the system. At a panel on copyright " "at a literary convention, where I proposed the ten-year term, a noted " "fantasy author sitting beside me objected vehemently, saying that anything " "beyond five years was intolerable." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "But we don't have to apply the same time span to all kinds of works. " "Maintaining the utmost uniformity of copyright policy is not crucial to the " "public interest, and copyright law already has many exceptions for specific " "uses and media. It would be foolish to pay for every highway project at the " "rates necessary for the most difficult projects in the most expensive " "regions of the country; it is equally foolish to “pay” for all " "kinds of art with the greatest price in freedom that we find necessary for " "any one kind." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "So perhaps novels, dictionaries, computer programs, songs, symphonies, and " "movies should have different durations of copyright, so that we can reduce " "the duration for each kind of work to what is necessary for many such works " "to be published. Perhaps movies over one hour long could have a twenty-year " "copyright, because of the expense of producing them. In my own field, " "computer programming, three years should suffice, because product cycles are " "even shorter than that." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Another dimension of copyright policy is the extent of fair use: some ways " "of reproducing all or part of a published work that are legally permitted " "even though it is copyrighted. The natural first step in reducing this " "dimension of copyright power is to permit occasional private small-quantity " "noncommercial copying and distribution among individuals. This would " "eliminate the intrusion of the copyright police into people's private lives, " "but would probably have little effect on the sales of published works. (It " "may be necessary to take other legal steps to ensure that shrink-wrap " "licenses cannot be used to substitute for copyright in restricting such " "copying.) The experience of Napster shows that we should also permit " "noncommercial verbatim redistribution to the general public—when so " "many of the public want to copy and share, and find it so useful, only " "draconian measures will stop them, and the public deserves to get what it " "wants." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "For novels, and in general for works that are used for entertainment, " "noncommercial verbatim redistribution may be sufficient freedom for the " "readers. Computer programs, being used for functional purposes (to get jobs " "done), call for additional freedoms beyond that, including the freedom to " "publish an improved version. See “Free Software Definition,” in " "this book, for an explanation of the freedoms that software users should " "have. But it may be an acceptable compromise for these freedoms to be " "universally available only after a delay of two or three years from the " "program's publication." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Changes like these could bring copyright into line with the public's wish to " "use digital technology to copy. Publishers will no doubt find these " "proposals “unbalanced”; they may threaten to take their marbles " "and go home, but they won't really do it, because the game will remain " "profitable and it will be the only game in town." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "As we consider reductions in copyright power, we must make sure media " "companies do not simply replace it with end-user license agreements. It " "would be necessary to prohibit the use of contracts to apply restrictions on " "copying that go beyond those of copyright. Such limitations on what " "mass-market nonnegotiated contracts can require are a standard part of the " "US legal system." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "A personal note" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "I am a software designer, not a legal scholar. I've become concerned with " "copyright issues because there's no avoiding them in the world of computer " "networks, such as the Internet. As a user of computers and networks for 30 " "years, I value the freedoms that we have lost, and the ones we may lose " "next. As an author, I can reject the romantic mystique of the author as " "semidivine <a href=\"/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#Creator\">creator</a>, " "often cited by publishers to justify increased copyright powers for " "authors—powers which these authors will then sign away to publishers." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Most of this article consists of facts and reasoning that you can check, and " "proposals on which you can form your own opinions. But I ask you to accept " "one thing on my word alone: that authors like me don't deserve special power " "over you. If you wish to reward me further for the software or books I have " "written, I would gratefully accept a check—but please don't surrender " "your freedom in my name." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Footnotes" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><ol><li> msgid "" "See Julian Sanchez’s article <a " "href=\"http://www.juliansanchez.com/2011/02/04/the-trouble-with-balance-metaphors/\">“The " "Trouble with ‘Balance’ Metaphors”</a> for an examination " "of “how the analogy between sound judgment and balancing weights may " "constrain our thinking in unhealthy ways.”" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><ol><li> msgid "" "Since renamed to the unpronounceable CBDTPA, for which a good mnemonic is " "“Consume, But Don't Try Programming Anything,” but it really " "stands for the “Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion " "Act.”" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><ol><li> msgid "" "If you would like to help, I recommend the Web sites <a " "href=\"https://www.defectivebydesign.org/\">DefectiveByDesign.org</a>, <a " "href=\"https://www.publicknowledge.org/\">publicknowledge.org</a> and <a " "href=\"https://www.eff.org/\">www.eff.org</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "This essay is published in <a " "href=\"https://shop.fsf.org/product/free-software-free-society/\"><cite>Free " "Software, Free Society: The Selected Essays of Richard " "M. Stallman</cite></a>." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't have notes. #. type: Content of: <div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S NOTES*" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to <a " "href=\"mailto:gnu@gnu.org\"><gnu@gnu.org></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\"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>." msgstr "" #. 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"> # #. <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> # #. <p>For information on coordinating and contributing translations of #. our web pages, see <a #. href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations #. README</a>. #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please see the <a " "href=\"/server/standards/README.translations.html\">Translations README</a> " "for information on coordinating and contributing translations of this " "article." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Copyright © 2002, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2021 Free Software Foundation, Inc." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "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>." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't want credits. #. type: Content of: <div><div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S CREDITS*" msgstr "" #. timestamp start #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Updated:" msgstr ""