Pfui

My reaction to Greg Mankiw’s analysis of SOPA (the Stop Online Privacy Act) is “Pfui”. The things that SOPA is trying to protect aren’t like cars or oil paintings or dollar bills. They are naturally non-rivalrous and non-excludable and it is only the power of law that renders them excludable and that only to the extent of the law. It makes sense to distinguish between these two different kinds of property. It is not inconsistent to recognize that different classes of things are, in fact, different.

I see the present copyright law completely differently. If the law as it is now had prevailed in 1930, Disney, a primary beneficiary and major sponsor of the 1999 copyright reform legislation, wouldn’t exist at all. Snow White and The Bremen Town Musicians would have been violations of Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm’s copyrights. Pinocchio did violate Collodi’s copyright and, if something analogous to SOPA had prevailed, Collodi’s estate could have shut Disney down entirely.

Our present copyright law is already excessive. Extending it further as SOPA would is abhorrent.

Shoemaker, stick to thy last.

1 comment… add one
  • michael reynolds Link

    I agree. I’ve opposed SOPA and PIPA from the start. They need to find a way to offer me some protection from pirates without breaking the internet.

Leave a Comment