Copyright is Theft

  or, The Copyright Abolition Manifesto

 

Sections:

  1. Art as an Experience

  2. Art as a "Product"

  3. The Inherent Evil of Copyright Law

  4. Bringing About the Abolition of Copyright
   4a. Devalue and Destroy Existing Intellectual Property
   4b. Create Art Unbound by IP

 

Important Definitions:

   Art: The personal experience and process of observing creative activity.
   Copyright - Exclusionary legal right to and ownership of a product.

 

Section 1: Art as an Experience

   The creation and viewing of Art expands one's emotional horizons and allows one to experience wider subsets of emotion not able to be described with only person to person conversation. This is important because Art is the closest thing we have to a physical god.

Creating and viewing Art is a fundamental experience to sentient life and is expressed throughout all human and post-human¹ culture without exception. Because of its cross cultural worship and devotion regardless of culture, Art becomes the closest concept we have of a universal god. To deny Art as a godly force in society is foolish and short sighted.

 

Section 2: Art as a "Product"

   To limit Art as a "product" which can be traded, stolen, or otherwise treated as a physical object, is a sin against the very nature of Art itself. Art is not an object or currency. Art is a mental experience that cannot be owned by a person or corporation. One cannot "steal" a thought, just the same as one cannot steal an emotion. This is what ownership of Art claims, that one has the exclusive rights to a thought, concept, or emotion.

   To create Art as a product to accumulate capital is a corrupting force and will not result in much of the best art being made. Art as a product necessitates distorting it to become profitable.²

   As of this writing, November 2023, the most common way this devaluing of Art is shown online is with Art being labeled as "Content". The word "Content" is the manifestation of the commodification of Art, and represents the final stage of Art as a "product", as existing for nothing but consumption. This view of Art is limiting at best and anti-Art at worst.

 

Section 3: The Inherent Evil of Copyright Law

   The stated purpose of copyright law has nothing to do with Art. It does not "protect" an artist from theft, it prevents the spread of Art by placing it behind artificial walls. "You must exchange currency to experience this emotion or thought" is a totalitarian nightmare of a concept. Yet, society does not see Art the same way as thoughts or emotions (which it essentially is). Art is devalued into a product for pure consumption.

   The protection of copyright law inherently means to restrict sharing of experience for the sake of profit. Copyright law does not protect artists, it kneecaps the ability of Art to expand beyond and to connect with all the individuals it possibly could. Crippling Art for the sake of profit is a sin against Art.

 

Section 4: Bringing About the Abolition of Copyright

   There are two primary ways that copyright law can be challenged and evenutally abolished.

  

4a. Devalue and Destroy Existing Intellectual Property

    Commit acts that explicitly violate copyright law. Create unauthorized Art using existing properties, pirate protected works, and use any attention you may receive to advocate for the abolishment of copyright law. Turn yourself into an icon of copyright abolition by making noise and showing just how unfair of an advantage that big business and corporations have in legal matters concerning intellectual property. It is unjust for one to go to jail for experiencing or creating Art without permission. That is a totalitarian concept and you should do everything in your power to make sure the public sees the evils of copyright law.

  

4b. Create Art Unbound by IP

    Create Art without connection to ownership. There are many ways to go about this, but I recommend looking at https://creativecommons.org/ for more information for how one can go about releasing Art unbound by intellectual property. They have far better resources and guides for how to do this than I could hope to explain.

    Similarly, If you obtain the legal rights to an Art "product", you have an ethical responsibility to free it from copyright. “Practice what you preach”, so to speak.

 

Artists of the world, unite!

 

Footnotes:

   1. Post-human: Any individual who previously was or identified as human and no longer is, ie otherkin, therian, etc. Not entirely important for this text, but this personal definition may clear up how I talk about creative expression and my inclusion of non-humans.

   2. Important to note: This distortion is not an inherent evil. To create Art that appeals to a wider audience is not bad for Art, but if the only Art being rewarded is profitable art it limits the proliferation and creation of more niche Art.


  This text is entirely free to be posted and reposted without my permission. I reliquish all right to this text as it currently exists and everyone is free to edit, critique, or credit themselves with it. The artist does not own the Art, Art belongs to no one.

11/12/2023