Ben Franklin and CD piracy!
Randy Cox
copying from others over the internet. It would be nice in this moment of
national insanity if we took a look back into time for precedent.
CD's are the current state of the art technology, but a couple of hundred
years ago there was also a new technology sweeping the land. Gutenberg had
invented the printing press and books were spreading the theories of the
such radicals as Locke and Hume. All over the world people were reading
books containing information that had once been reserved for the few who
were rich enough or privileged enough to have access to the church
libraries.
Before books progress was slow as men who had spent lifetimes
learning....could only pass their hard gained information on to a few who
were close to them. The rest of mankind had to start from the beginning and
learn much the same as the "expert" that came before him. Over and over
again, the wheels of the world had to be re-invented. Then hand copying of
books allowed the accumulation of knowledge....but the difficulty of the
scribing process limited the access.
Then the printing press was invented. Many copies of books could be made,
and knowledge could be encapsulated so that the next contributor to advances
could have instant access to lifetimes of learning while at the beginning of
their careers. Progress speeded up!
A young immigrant to America, by the name of Ben Franklin contributed a HUGE
amount to the progress of mankind. He was an oceanographer, a scientist, an
inventor, an electrician, a poet, a political philosopher, but foremost he
was a printer. In those days a printer was akin to an internet service
provider or the manufacturer of blank CD disks. Printing was the new
technology that spread information in far faster ways than ever before.
Franklin was a contract printer, meaning he would print jobs for other
producers of information. Franklin almost single handedly created the
institution of pamphleteering that spread the fervor of freedom and the call
for independence throughout the 13 colonies. Others would slip their
handwritten oratory beneath Franklin's door with a coin or two to pay for
the process and Franklin would print it up and distribute it.
Soon America threw off the shackles of the British royalty, learned free
lifestyles and confederated government from the Indians, and the American
Experiment was underway!
Authors of books received fame an fortune, partly from the profits from the
sale of their books, but more than that they received the financial benefits
that follow having contributing to the flow of new information and ideas.
Franklin's time was flowing with ideas....and the printing press was the
headwater of that information.
Now, Franklin knew well the importance of information. He made his living
printing books, newspapers, and the Farmer's Almanac. No one in America had
a larger stake in the finances of printing and bookmaking than Ben Franklin.
Still! It was Ben Franklin that conceived the idea of the lending library.
By collecting books and setting up a reading room to hold them, Franklin
established the first lending library. There one could borrow a book, read
it, and return it for another to borrow the information. Now books could
be enjoyed over and over and over again without each reader having to buy
his own book. If the reader wanted to own the book, he could buy it. If he
just wanted the information inside, he could borrow it.
Today, lesser men than Franklin, are trying to stop the information flow
that could and has changed our modern world in similar fashion to the way
books and the sharing of books changed early America. One could easily
compare Ben Franklin to Bill Gates...except that Gates more of less
collected the ideas contained in Microsoft software from others, and Gates
lacks the huge body of contributions in other areas of life that Franklin
had. Gates also appears to be a bit more greedy. Franklin grew
wealthy...but having achieved all the wealth a man needs for himself, he
gave over his rights to some of the printed material he was responsible for
and made it available to as many as he could...........for free or little
charge. He promoted the borrowing and lending of books because he wanted
the benefits of the information contained within them to extend out to those
who could ill afford to purchase their own library.
Copying any music, information, or programming CD's for sale and profit
should be strictly against the law. Copying the same for private use should
be allowed as books have always been allowed to be lent and copied for
private use. Music piracy is the focus of all the complaint, but there are
informational CD's off all kinds that are also being copied. Immigrants are
"stealing" language CD's and passing them on to their relatives as they
learn the language of the land to better serve their families and function
as better citizens in their new land. People are sharing ideas of self help
in many different areas through the copying of CD's that they really could
not afford to buy themselves.
Music and information CD's are not the original creations they pretend to
be. In the same way that a visual artist always begins to learn the process
of art by copying the existing masters, so, too, do the song writers and
performers copy those that came before them. At the beginning levels the
copying is almost word for word. As the young artist progresses, he begins
to add a note...or a stroke here and there of his own until the song or
painting begins to look unique. Still, even the most unique art is
connected to the past! Art is not an individual effort but a collective
effort of the best part of humanity. An artist connects to the past and
extends out to the future in some way to continue the process of art. If he
extends beyond the recognition of others ability to connect with him, he
will be ignored and will have no part in the process of art...except in
those rare instances where an artist is discovered after his death in a time
more ready to appreciate his contribution.
So the photographer takes a beautiful picture of an old barn and a wagon.
He prints it and brings it to market. A painter sees it and the image is
burned into that artist mind in a way that comes out on a canvass as an
"original" painting. The photographer discovers the theft and sues at law.
He may win or not win....but the photographer seldom gives credit to the old
farmer that built the barn in the picture or the wagonwright that fashioned
the wagon. We do draw lines where no lines actually exist.
If we continue to push for enforcement of intellectual rights we will stifle
the future. If you want a glimpse of how it could be stifled....just think
how important lending libraries were to your own life and education.
Imagine where we would be if Franklin's idea to share books had been deemed
to be criminal infringement upon the intellectual rights of others!
Like Franklin, in a far smaller way, I too am a writer and an electrician.
America, if you choose to continue to press the intellectual rights issue to
extremes I will expect you to send me a check for each operation of the
light switch in your homes and offices. Each time you use an outlet that I
installed I will expect you to pay me for that. No one puts in a switch,
plug, or breaker exactly the same way as do I. All my electrical work is
unique and I expect my original contribution to the world to be respected.
I am not the only one to advocate sanity. Orin Hatch illustrated the
insanity of his extreme position on intellectual rights when he used
pirated software to publish his demands for extended protection on the
internet! It was a subliminal beacon of light that came from his
subconscious to show us all how greedy the holders of copyright are getting.
Then came Fox news lawsuit against Al Franken. Fox was prepared to assume
absolute and exclusive right to the combined use of three words....."Fair
and balanced!" There are millions of us, people! If each of us
reserved exclusive right to three words in a particular sequence......the
words would run out before all would have their own phrase. Some would have
three words to speak and write, but others would have nothing at all to say
without violating the law and risk being sued by the owner of those three
words.
Copyright 2003 by Randy R. Cox
These words may be copied, borrowed, repeated at will by anyone for their
own personal use. If they are to be sold are used in any commercial
way.....you must have my permission.
The above is my "fair and balanced" position forever and ever as long as the
rivers run slick with oil in North Texas and the sky turns brown with haze.