Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

It's a moral obligation to respect it.

Author:Brett Glass
Posted:8/25/2000; 9:04:41 AM
Topic:Next survey: Are you an open source developer?
Msg #:20190 (In response to 20184)
Prev/Next:20189 / 20191

Ah, but is it appropriate to reward those people through the mechanism of copyright? (Everybody, RMS included, thinks it's OK to, say, hire a programmer as a contractor to make some custom software for you, and pay the programmer for the effort.)

Yes, RMS thinks it's fine to reduce programmers, artists, musicians, etc. to the level of grunts who punch the clock and work by the hour. In fact, he explicitly advocates paying them low wages (cf The GNU Manifesto) rather than according to the value of what they produce. This is perfectly in keeping with his vendetta against creative people.

Copyright is a far better model for rewarding creative work, since it allows the artist to retain ownership of his or her work and to be rewarded according to the value which people derive from it.

Suppose, for example, I own a house with a lawn, and I expend a lot of effort on beautifying and landscaping the lawn. It takes time, effort, and talent to create a good lawn -- and Heaven knows that there aren't anywhere near enough good lawns out there. So, if passers-by on the sidewalk stop to admire my lawn, do I have a right to demand payment for their experience?

Yes, you absolutely do. Put up a fence and charge admission to your garden. Host weddings, concerts, and meetings. There are many botanical gardens and private estates that do just this. If the experience of seeing your landscaping is valuable to people, they will pay to ooh and aah at your lawn.

Of course, if the experience is really not all that grand, you may find that few people are willing to pay for it. That's good, too. You should be rewarded according to the value of your work.

If the house next door to mine sells at a higher price because of its proximity to my beautiful lawn, am I entitled to a share of the proceeds?

A beautiful lawn elsewhere in the neighborhood has little effect on the appraised value of a property. The quality of the property's own lawn will be much more important. Maybe your neighbor ought to bake you a batch of cookies.

He's not obliged to do so, though, any more than you are obliged to tip a group of Mariachis who appear on your lawn to serenade you.

--Brett Glass

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