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The WSJ Online considers "Google Search: 'Copyright'." Topic para:
There's one big problem. The firm's practice of downloading and reproducing books, articles, photographs and other creative materials without approval of the copyright owners is legally ambiguous. And in our time, what's legally ambiguous gets sued. What's new here is that, on an unprecedented scale, Google pits the rights of intellectual property owners against the Web's ability to "democratize" information for everyone. The WSJ comes down on the side of the copyright holders, but it recognizes the complexities:
A recent Cato Institute paper argues that "transformative" technologies like search engines should be exempt from many of these copyright lawsuits because they create entirely new products out of the old. They argue that the role of "copyright law is to promote, not impede technological progress." That's true. But without rigorous enforcement of intellectual-property rights, there may not be much technological progress to promote. Read the whole thing.
A point I would add is that most of the arguments for brushing aside copyright concerns are based on the reality that there is a large existing stock of works produced under the old rules, when creators (the fools!) actually thought they would get paid. But under the new rules advocated by the anti-copyright forces, creators will be under no such illusion. So what happens then? Will the culture loving pirates be happy to recycle old material, infinitely? Or will there be weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, along with sanctimonious talk about how "no one would have predicted" that our creative Atlases would collectively shrug?
posted by James DeLong @ 7:39 AM | Internet: P2P, Search Engines...
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