Re: Responsibility, Copyright and New World Order

Greg Ikonen <gikonen[_at_]venlaw.com> wrote, concerning the use of copyright in such "enlightened" civilizations as the Roman, ancient Greek, and ancient Egyptian:
>
> I'm not quite sure I understand how the Roman Empire and Ancient
> Egypt were "enlightened nations", particularly given their economic
> dependence on vast numbers of slaves. It was this slave labor,
> toiling tirelessly to produce food, shelter and other amenities,
> that permitted a privileged few to devote their lives to artistic
> expression and "enlightment" without worrying about such pedestrian
> matters as how they were going to feed themselves. ...

Greg is right. It should also be noted that those civilizations did not have the means to copy effectively, since they didn't have the printing press. Copyright to encourage creativity by preventing copying of created works was not needed until the printing press. There are only two instances of copying being done in ancient times that I know of. One was by the library of Alexandria, which required every traveler to the city to submit any books they had for copying for the library. The purpose was to prevent the loss of knowledge, and to preserve it in the library, not to reward and encourage creativity. The other copying was done by Christian monks, who copied the bible by hand. That task was so laborious and time consuming, and so few people could read, that the idea of controlling it was laughable.

To say that copyright is not necessary because ancient civilations didn't need it is not a good argument. They didn't need it because copying was not practical.

Bob Shaver
<bob[_at_]cyberhighway.net> Received on Thu Aug 12 1999 - 16:37:54 GMT