[LINK] Theft, copyright, larceny...

[Rick Welykochy]

Bernard Robertson-Dunn wrote:

> Joe sells CDs and DVDs for which he gets $10 each (or whatever)
> Bill copies one of Joe's CDs and gives it to Fred.
> Bill has not stolen any information from Joe beacuse Joe still has the information and is not deprived of it.
> 
> However, Joe can be described as having lost the opportunity to sell information, not lost the information itself.
> In this model, Bill has stolen something from Joe in exactly the same way as if he had stolen a CD.

Heaven forbid if we begin to reform our concept of property law
along the lines you suggest.


Given the above (il)logic, I am a thief if I deprive you of
     the opportunity to sell something to someone because of some
     action I have taken. Let's say I play a CD that Joe is
     could sell to Bill and Bill then decides not to buy. Have I
     stolen from Joe? Let's say I write a scathing review of
     a CD Joe is selling and Bill decides not to buy. Have I
     deprived Joe of the opportunity of a sale? Am I a thief?


Equating the content in a object to the object itself
     is a grave step on the wrong direction - argument ad
     absurdum produces this: I copy an idea that came from your
     brain and pass it on: have I stolen your brain?


I sample ten seconds (about 0.3%) of a CD Joe is selling and
     then incorporate that into a CD I am selling; Bob buys
     my CD instead of buying a CD from Joe - Have I deprived
     Joe? Seems like it to me. How much of a sample (what
     percentage) can I sample before I am copying the work?
     Isn't there a fair level of use/sampling?


Your use of the word exactly in the last sentence quoted above
is demonstrably absurd - need I bother to elaborate? Or are
you just being emotive?


cheers
rickw




-- 
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Rick Welykochy || Praxis Services

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