Hello everyone I started this discussion on telegram but wanted to expand upon on here. I haven’t seen this anywhere but what is Liberland’s position on copyrights, patents and trademarks? One would think Liberland takes a neutral stance as there is nowhere to register these instruments where one registers a new company in the blockchain or is it in the works currently. We have to think like a nation state and they all have depositories of some sort the blockchain is very innovative and the future there needs to be a discussion on length on copyrights, what treaties to adopt, etc. Since is supposed to be libertarian in nature I think there will be great debate as to how to implement such a mechanism.
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This is a very interesting subject, and I’ve thought a lot about it in the past. There are some things we should be aware of when considering copyright:
- No one has the moral right to forbid you from pressing any virtual on-screen buttons, no matter what you do by doing so. Or from browsing wherever you like. Whatever is available online, no one should be punished just for consuming it.
- No one can prove that 1 copy equals 1 sale—or less, or more. No one can quantify that; there’s no direct relation between them.
- When you copy something, you multiply it—you don’t steal anything from anyone, because they still have it.
Digital goods are a new and very special kind of good. While the ease of copying can hurt profits from sales, it also helps truly high-quality products spread more easily online. This makes it possible for someone to achieve a real breakthrough “from their bedroom” without any help from the industry—which has happened before. What we have here is a natural quality selection process for digital goods.
I believe no one should ever be punished for downloading music, movies, or software. The same goes for uploading. I also think Creative Commons licensing is a sane approach that fits our new digital age.
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Good afternoon, everyone.
This is a very interesting topic.
And very relevant in a world of progress in which there are already 8 billion.
My opinion is that the main rights to the product has its creator.
The rest are only users of the product.
If it is available in the public domain, you can use it.
But if the creator of the product decides otherwise, he has every right to do so.
And it is desirable to check everything.
Because you know, there is a lot of experience, when someone appropriates someone else’s or created by the whole country and proclaims himself director of some plant or field that belongs to everyone.
Respectfully.
Andrii.
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The problem is that the creator just cannot “decide otherwise.” They are dealing with data that can be multiplied. Essentially, it’s a whole different level compared to everything else. That decision also means there should be some kind of enforcement against copying. We all know that is futile and that the law in that case just cannot be applied to everyone - there are just too many people pushing the on-screen buttons.
So then we come to the sneaky business practice of distribution companies offering out-of-court settlements to random downloaders, which has actually become a business model. All of this happens while the profits of creators are eaten by the industry. So it’s all very rotten to the core, IMO.
Sane creators should be aware of all the things mentioned here and in my previous posts and just accept the fact that people who can download something for free will actually do it - and they will further share it. It’s just a fact of life. I guess many creators already have that stance, but the problem we have here is the industry, which is ruining people’s lives for its own profits.
Respect digital data. It’s a different beast.
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Very valid points indeed i brought this topic under the idea that the regime of copyrights are a very bad idea. The United States DMCA is wrought with false accusations against people who are using content under the fair use doctrine which is a first amendment right. Also the idea of perpetual copyright that the UK has had in the past is very absurd and nothing like that should ever exist I also think that if a copyright were to exist, it should not extend beyond the life of that person and the concept of copyright was to protect the book publishers not the author as discussed earlier we should not as a country ratify or endorse any treaty like WIPO, TRIPS and the Berne Convention for example in the realm of copyrights. There are lots of other things in the world of treaties that need to be discussed but I think this should be one of the first for our new country to have an open talk on.
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The basic idea of the internet is that when you upload anything you give it away to the world.
Excellent dialogue above.
In the US, the patent process has been weaponized by the government for them to steal any inventions they want for themselves, and then ban an inventor from working on his own invention under “national security”. And if an inventor receives a patent, he only has protection as long as he has the funds to wage legal war against an infringing company. Therefore, patents only seem to help large companies. And who wants LL to be another country that bends the knee to large corporations? The world already has plenty of those countries.
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I’m a little surprised no one has argued in favor of having trademarks, copyrights, or patents (unless I’m misunderstanding someone’s opinion), but that seems to be one governmental bureaucracy that maybe we can just cross off the list.
No I think we are all in agreement that we do not want any of these things in Liberland is the point. However I will stress this point though we have to be careful about certain treaties and organizations we can join because we dont want to be hamstringed by such actions example 1 is the World Trade Organization their WIPO treaty is what we in the US call the DMCA which is the worst kind law one could use for copyrights I hate it with a passion and wish we could just get rid of it along with the Sonny Bono Act aka the Mickey Mouse Protection act. If we can get Liberland on the map as a safe haven for technological innovation Liberland would become Tech powerhouse hub overnight!
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Yeah Martin, I think your point goes towards my personal fear that LL congressmen/PM will take the same path most US congressmen/President have taken and be lazy in regards to keeping up date with issues and reading material fully when appropriate. I’m not sure that the LL governmental structure is, as yet, unique enough to avoid certain traps other govts have fallen into.
And it’s not just reading and being up to date on the issues, policy voters really have to let ideas gestate inside their minds. It’s almost like they need to be experienced meditators to be able to think an idea over properly.
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You are correct and I think we as in the people of Liberland although I am not a citizen so I cannot vote but we must hold accountable the elected representatives so they do not make those same mistakes the PM of Liberland is a former representative from Grenada to the World Trade Organization which I have some concerns over not the PM but the WTO and the power the can wield over their members nations at times. I just gave the US DMCA as just one example of their power. However the way Liberland is setup the people get to decide what international Liberland joins just like the Swiss do I think that is a huge check against any abuses I hope…
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Wow, I did not know that about the LL PM. That is quite a negative piece of info. Is there a thread on this forum covering that?
No there is not but we need to discuss this further. What are your objections to this?
The WTO is right up there with the UN, council on foreign relations, etc, that were either created by or taken over by globalist billionaires that had a long term plan to use these organizations as a precursor to a world government, run by the globalist billionaires.
My main fear about Liberland was that it would be infiltrated by the agents of the low-morality billionaire class.
I’m not saying the LL PM is an agent of anyone else or that he desires to be part of any globalist group, but it does look bad to be part of a shady organization. Even if he didn’t realize it had a shady reputation, the next question would be, why didn’t he know that it had a shady reputation? Didn’t he do a thorough background check of the organization he was going to be part of?
You bring very valid concerns that need to be looked at very closely if LL is to become serious about being different from other countries around the world that much is certain it is the path that we take that must done cautiously.
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In theory, ok, but in practice, in the new world we are entering, copyright, trademark enforcement is going to be very difficult if not impossible. And the new world is one of unlimited abundance (as long as we can keep politicians/government out of our business) so it’s not going to matter. We gotta stop thinking like we are in the 20th century.