Re:Jury in Oracle v. Google finds in Google's favour
by pcwalton on Friday May 27, 2016 @02:52PM
(#11788079)
> The point of copyright isn't to keep kids from pirating a few songs, just like the point of property right's isn't to keep kids from walking across your lawn. That's not what's going to destroy the value of your property. The point of copyright is to force Netflix and Amazon Prime and Youtube to bargain with you instead of just ripping you off. And that's not hard to enforce.
You know, I've never heard this position articulated before, but it seems incredibly, and obviously reasonable. To me, the balanced position of "enforce copyright vigorously when significant value is at stake, but don't harm consumers by obsessively trying to prevent minor infringements" seems the most fair position.
Not really, and this is where I think copyright owners have gone off the reservation with their enforcement strategy. The point of copyright isn't to keep kids from pirating a few songs, just like the point of property right's isn't to keep kids from walking across your lawn. That's not what's going to destroy the value of your property. The point of copyright is to force Netflix and Amazon Prime and Youtube to bargain with you instead of just ripping you off. And that's not hard to enforce.