--- Forwarded Message from "Dente, Edmund" <[log in to unmask]> --- >Subject: FW: Copyright? Copywrong! >Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 14:32:10 -0400 >Thread-Topic: Copyright? Copywrong! >Thread-Index: AcXTELp+KV5NDRodRMuSIr0EMUpP5AAOEPtw >From: "Dente, Edmund" <[log in to unmask]> >To: "Otmar K. Foelsche" <[log in to unmask]>, <[log in to unmask]> There is a thoughtful article on copyright ("Imagine a World without Copyright" - the author is argues FOR such a world.) in the 8 October International Herald Tribune, author, Joost Smiers.: http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/07/opinion/edsmiers.php Given the author's position, I'm sure he won't mind that I've quoted his first and his concluding paragraphs: Cheers, Ed AMSTERDAM <http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?query=AMSTERDAM&sort=swishrank> Copyright was once a means to guarantee artists a decent income. Aside from the question as to whether it ever actually functioned as such - most artists never made a penny from the copyright system - we have to admit that copyright serves an altogether different purpose in the contemporary world. It now is the tool that conglomerates in the music, publishing, imaging and movie industries use to control their markets. Cultural monopolists desperately want us to believe that without copyright we would have no artistic creations and therefore no entertainment. That is nonsense. We would have more, and more diverse ones. A world without copyright is easy to imagine. The level playing field of cultural production - a market accessible for everyone - would once again be restored. A world without copyright would offer the guarantee of a good income to many artists, and would protect the public domain of knowledge and creativity. And members of the public would get what they are entitled to: a surprisingly rich and varied menu of artistic alternatives. (Joost Smiers, the author ) ================================================= Edmund N. Dente Director, Language Media Center Asst Director, Media Services 617.627.3036 Tufts University [log in to unmask] Medford, MA 02155 http://ase.tufts.edu/lmc *********************************************** LLTI is a service of IALLT, the International Association for Language Learning, and The Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning (http://consortium.dartmouth.edu). Join IALLT at http://iallt.org. Otmar Foelsche, LLTI-Editor ([log in to unmask]) ***********************************************