cloquewerk ([info]cloquewerk) wrote,
@ 2007-05-09 01:24:00
Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend  Next Entry
Current mood: indescribable
Current music:Vanessa Rodrigues - "Runnin' & Rippin' & Runnin'"
Entry tags:copyright, law, media, music

we don't even know what "illegal" means anymore
"I am sure the people in Canada recognize this is an illegal act and would like to see legislation preventing that from happening," argues Dan Fellman, some guy in charge of distribution at Warner Bros.

Heh, Fellman would like to see legislation to back up this "illegal act". Maybe it's 'cause I find phrases like "usually always" or "literally took my head off" to be a sign that we don't even know what we're talking about anymore, but the idea that you designate an action as illegal and then make a law prohibiting it seems to hint at a strange idea of what terms like "legal" and "illegal" mean in contemporary society.

This of course is not an argument for or against music copyright laws (my arguments against modern copyright laws are undoubtedly better expounded elsewhere). It's just an example of how the mainstream idea of public debate is so incredibly, and sadly unsurprisingly, inane.




(Read 3 comments) - (Post a new comment)


[info]wlach
2007-05-09 05:46 pm UTC (link)
This is the kind of crazy logic you see when people forget that laws are supposed to serve the public interest.

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]cloquewerk
2007-05-10 05:07 pm UTC (link)
More and more I am realizing that the notion of laws serving the public interest was essentially tacked on to the original purpose of legal systems--protecting the property of the rich. As far as I know, laws originated after the formation of hierarchical societies; even in many North American pre-conquest cultures had nothing like European and Asian legal systems (a great challenge to today's progressive lawyers who are trying to synthesize Canadian and Native ideas of law). That isn't to say that non-hierarchical groups were "anything-goes" societies, but there was no need for a rigid system of laws until some people had to protect their wealth against others. I guess it is no wonder then that we just can't seem to get the legal system right.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


(Read 3 comments) - (Post a new comment)

Create an Account
Forgot your login or password?
Login w/ OpenID
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…