Thursday, December 2, 2010

Copyright Questions

Copyright Questions

Well, I was searching some of my old domains on the internet archive this morning looking for something for my wife and I came across this old article from 2000 I think. Here is the link:

http://web.archive.org/web/20001213071000/www.cayspot.net/ii/zbro/copyrightq.php3

And here is the article:


Copyright Questions

Copyright Questions - and a few ramblings.

I was just reading an article posting over at Technocrat.Net and decided to finally get around to starting in on writing this. I have been meaning to start for ages now.

The article that prompted it was an editorial by Bruce on Music Bootlegging with Napster hurting Free Software.

This is not relevant to the rest of this piece, but why is there so little notice or discussion of the fact that there is almost no Free Music but there is a lot of Free Software. Where is the GPLed music distributed in source form? Is it that we don't have the tools to support a Free Music movement?

OK, here are the questions. If it would be better to think patent or some other mechanism (other than trade secret) in place of copyright, so be it. For each question, if you choose to send in the answers for inclusion, state whether you think it is moral/ethical, and whether you think it is legal or illegal in your country and whether it is legal or illegal in any other country. I am hoping to get a script online that can take responses. If you feel like knocking one up before I get to it, great. (I would prefer php, but any standard free solution will do.)

* Can I take a picture of a tree in a forest and sell or give away copies of the picture?
* Can I take a picture of a tree in someone's front lawn and sell or give away copies of the picture?
* Can I take a picture of a 'lion tree sculpture' in someone's front lawn and sell or give away copies of the picture?
* Can I take a picture of an artist's oil painting and sell or give away copies of the picture?
* Can I take a picture of a sculptor's work and sell or give away copies of the picture?
* Can I take a picture of a model in a designer dress and sell or give away copies of the picture?
* Can I take a picture of a model in a designer dress and sell or give away copies of the picture with only the models permission?
* Can I take a picture of a building designed by an architect and sell or give away copies of the picture?
* Can I take a picture of a float in a parade and sell or give away copies of the picture?
* Can I take a picture of a room papered with designer wallpaper and sell or give away copies of the picture?
* Can I hear a joke and tell it to someone else?
* Can I hear a joke and tell it in a comedy club where I get paid for my act?
* Can I read a recipe in a copyrighted cookbook and make the dish for sale in my restaurant?
* Can I make a comedy version of a hot song and sell my version without paying anyone royalties?
* When a song is played on the radio, which of the following gets paid? The person who wrote the words, the person who wrote the music, the person who performed the song? The individuals who own the rights to the words, the music, the recording?
* If you commission a sculpture of your dog and the sculptor gives you the finished piece in raw marble, can you paint it to be lifelike and display it on your front lawn?
* Can I sing the latest hit song in my shower?
* Can I get together with my friends and sing the latest hit song in my living room?
* Can I get together with my friends and sing the latest hit song on the street corner for free?
* Can I get together with my friends and sing the latest hit song on the street corner and accept donations in a hat?
* Can I get together with my friends and sing the latest hit song in a club for free?
* Can I get together with my friends and sing the latest hit song in a club and get paid?
* Can I recite the words to a current hit song in a poetry reading contest?
* Can I recite the words to a poem my friend wrote (without their permission) in a poetry reading contest?
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I hope this helps to get someone thinking. Please feel free to help me make this clearer or suggest new questions if you can. Also, feel free to treat this as if it had been GPLed for now. Still looking for the best GPL like license for non-programs.

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Thoughts? (Fixed a few spelling mistakes.)