Thomas Babington Macaulay on Copyright

[Russell McOrmond]

   This article comes from FLORA.ca
   URL: http://weblog.flora.ca/article.php3?story_id=145



Macaulay on Copyright

   Author, Poet, Historian and Politician Thomas Babington Macaulay on
   Copyright
   
     The easiest form of parochialism to fall into is to assume that we
     are smarter than the past generations, that our thinking is
     necessarily more sophisticated. This may be true in science and
     technology, but not necessarily so in wisdom.
     
     Today I would like to share with you a speech made in 1841 by
     Thomas Babbington Macaulay, a brilliant philosopher, critic and
     historian who was himself a great enemy of historical parochialism.
     The speech is on the topic of copyright
     
   I believe this is a must-read for all creators. He clearly
   acknowledges the necessity of Copyright:
   
     It is then on men whose profession is literature, and whose private
     means are not ample, that you must rely for a supply of valuable
     books. Such men must be remunerated for their literary labour. And
     there are only two ways in which they can be remunerated. One of
     those ways is patronage; the other is copyright.
     
   He then goes on to explain well both the questionable rewards and the
   much more likely risks associated with overly-expanding copyright.
   
     Thus, then, stands the case. It is good that authors should be
     remunerated; and the least exceptionable way of remunerating them
     is by a monopoly. Yet monopoly is an evil. For the sake of the good
     we must submit to the evil; but the evil ought not to last a day
     longer than is necessary for the purpose of securing the good.
     
   I believe that he was also foretelling the hostility held against some
   creators (authors, musicians, etc) by Internet-connected citizens. It
   also explains people like myself who are creators in our own right,
   but who have decided to simply boycott the products of specific
   publishers, regardless of the potential harm that may come to creators
   who believe they rely on those publishers.
   
     At present the holder of copyright has the public feeling on his
     side. Those who invade copyright are regarded as knaves who take
     the bread out of the mouths of deserving men. Everybody is well
     pleased to see them restrained by the law, and compelled to refund
     their ill-gotten gains. No tradesman of good repute will have
     anything to do with such disgraceful transactions. Pass this law:
     and that feeling is at an end. Men very different from the present
     race of piratical booksellers will soon infringe this intolerable
     monopoly. Great masses of capital will be constantly employed in
     the violation of the law. Every art will be employed to evade legal
     pursuit; and the whole nation will be in the plot.
     
---
 Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
 See http://weblog.flora.org/ for announcements, activities, and opinions
 World Intellectual Monopoly Day  (April 26, 2002)
 GAScd.TOUR - For the benefit of GASCD  (April 26, 2002)

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