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> If I take a new and finely machined part and put
> it into one of those 3-D scanning and milling
> machines, and the machine starts to spit out
> copy after copy, I don't have to pay residuals
> to the guy who machined the archetype object.
> If I get a portrait done of my lovely wife
> and run that through a high-res scanner, it
> seems I'm supposed to pay the portrait painter
> each time I sell a copy, unless I have a piece
> of paper entitling me to reproduction rights
> for the image.
>
> The difference is...?
You didn't get the first copy for free. You had to pay for copy 1. And
theoretically - yes, you should pay royalties to your portrait painter.
Just because there are isolated scenarios where royalties aren't
traditionally paid does not mean you can universally apply that to all
things.
For all the idiotic scenarios we have all attempted to dream up, it all
boils down to a simple premise. The more something is in demand, the more
money there is to be made from that item. The original owner has a right
to control his/her/its work and get compensated for it. Security measures
are merely a way for owners to control their work.
If you take something without the owner's consent - even a ball of lint
from his belly button - you are at a minimum committing an unethical act
(and a rather disgusting one). You cannot just take that which does not
belong to you. You also can't buy things and break them just so you can
take (or profit in some way) from something you didn't pay for. Its that
flippin' simple.
Now, different scenarios have different levels of intensity. We may not
consider somebody copying an e-mail top a buddy a serious offense. But
copying a Win2K disk is. Just because the intensity of the crime changes,
does not negate the entire crime.
Andrew Plato
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