What Went Wrong With Copyright & Patent Law

[sholling]

I'm a big believer in supporting artists by paying them for their products. At the same time I think this video's point is just as important. I wasn't sure where to put this so this seemed like a good place.

Everything That's Wrong with Patent and Copyright Laws in One Brilliant Video (Updated)

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/36881035?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe><p>Everything is a Remix Part 4 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.</p>

 

[Adam]

Thanks for posting that! It was both educational and entertaining - I was very impressed with the quality of the work.

 

[avnetguy]

I little to much "doom and gloom" on that piece for me but it does kind of bring to light the issues at hand, the legal system. I would have to disagree with the software patents, from all the ones I've seen, they are not "loose ideas" as claimed.

Steve

 

[sholling]

I little to much "doom and gloom" on that piece for me but it does kind of bring to light the issues at hand, the legal system. I would have to disagree with the software patents, from all the ones I've seen, they are not "loose ideas" as claimed.

Steve

I think the video producer was referring to the abusively fuzzy concept patents.

 

[markw]

Interesting..

A new interpertatio of trolling: How to get rich off of other people's sweat or by claiming their ideas as yours. What a "monsterously" fascinating subject.

 

[avnetguy]

I think the video producer was referring to the abusively fuzzy concept patents.

That's the part I don't get. I'm no patent expert by far but have dealt with (on a technical side) a few software patents and they are pretty precise. Now I've only seen a small sample of patents (maybe some bad ones got through?) but from what I know patents get rejected if they are vague. BTW, a software patent troll did legally approach my company once but their claims were bogus so we were able to ignore them.

I think the bigger issue is not related to the patents themselves but the legal system which almost always allows the bigger company (more money) to win. If I get a patent (not exactly cheap BTW) for some software I wrote and a large company reverse engineers it and then releases it in their product, I basically have no chance to win as the legal fees alone would put me under.

Steve

 

[TLS Guy]

I'm a big believer in supporting artists by paying them for their products. At the same time I think this video's point is just as important. I wasn't sure where to put this so this seemed like a good place.

Everything That's Wrong with Patent and Copyright Laws in One Brilliant Video (Updated)

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/36881035?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe><p>Everything is a Remix Part 4 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.</p>

Thanks, for that. Trouble is, that with all the lobbying money involved, I expect it to get worse.

 

[sholling]

Trouble is, that with all the lobbying money involved, I expect it to get worse.

I agree completely. Every time Micky Mouse comes close to going into the public domain copyrights will be extended another 20-30 years.

 

[Chu Gai]

There was an interesting post at the Freakonomics Blog titled,
How Much Do Music and Movie Piracy Really Hurt the U.S. Economy?

The opening of the article says,

Supporters of stronger intellectual property enforcement — such as those behind the proposed new Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) bills in Congress — argue that online piracy is a huge problem, one which costs the U.S. economy between $200 and $250 billion per year, and is responsible for the loss of 750,000 American jobs.
These numbers seem truly dire: a $250 billion per year loss would be almost $800 for every man, woman, and child in America. And 750,000 jobs – that’s twice the number of those employed in the entire motion picture industry in 2010.
The good news is that the numbers are wrong