A Constructive Proposal For Copyright Reform - my opinion about it

This time I will share my opinion on what I think about a copyright advised changes proposed in a book The Case for Copyright Reform [1]. There are two thing I will bring up - first is my general opinion about software reform and second is what in my opinion has changed since the article release.

My opinion

To make things short - I am a total supporter for a copyright reform. I am 90-100% agree with every word authors wrote. Copyrighting might indeed be an obstacle for a personal privacy and one of fundamental rights - freedom of speech. Here is an example of how absurd copyright laws can be. On the 15th of February 2013, a meteorite fell in Chelyabinsk. Most of video footages were taken by dashcams. People started sharing those videos and to much surprise videos were blocked in Germany because of the copyrights [2]. Since most of drivers were listening to a radio, there was some song playing, but German rights did not allow using it without authors permission. On the other hand the music in those videos had no value (especially commercial) - it is just a background and meteor footage actually has value. In my opinion this is nonsense and it shows where copyright supremacy can lead.

On the other hand there are a lot of good examples regarding using of copyright. Let us take WinRAR as an example - basically everyone can use it during a trial period with no copyright issues. Than user will receive a notice, that they should buy it, but it is not a strict rule that blocks users from using it. However companies are obligated to get a license, which makes WinRAR still profitable [3].

A typical WinRAR joke [4]

What has changed

I think one big step which was made since a book The Case for Copyright Reform first appeared is the growing popularity on streaming services (take Twitch as an example). It widens the possibilities for artists to get money for their creations or monetize their hobbies. It widens their possibilities and brings value not only to the result, but the whole process. Let us take drawing a picture as an example. In a typical copyright world there is one step - picture is drawn and this is the moment it gets its value. But if we take an artist, who is streaming the process of picture - they could receive value the whole time they are drawing it - maybe actual money or at least satisfaction from somebody watching their stream. This is somehow close to street musicians, only in a slightly modern way...


1. The Case for Copyright Reform by Christian Engström MEP & Rick Falkvinge

2. https://www.theverge.com/2013/2/21/4013172/dashcam-meteor-videos-blocked-in-germany-because-of-copyrighted

3. https://www.thestockdork.com/how-does-winrar-make-money/

4. https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/c16kwr/when_someone_buys_winrar/

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