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Why Creators Shouldn't Own their Creations (And Why its Good for them too)

Just a moment...

https://invidious.perennialte.ch/watch?v=mnnYCJNhw7w

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I've been trying to find this interview with Mark Hossler for over a decade. It was around 2006-2008, it was pre-youtube and hosted as an mp4 file on someone's blog... I have been unable to find it, nor have others. If you can find it easily on YouTube... it's not the interview I'm talking about.

Anyway, it spoke deeply on this point. I'll try to make my best summation of what Hossler discussed in this interview.

Basically, his position on art and how you can have "control" over your art was this:

If you want to control your art: Keep it in your home, don't take pictures of it, don't post it online, keep quiet about it and maybe let people who enter your home view it.

The key is this: All human minds function on copying and memetics. We inherently "copy" ideas that we see in real life, without even thinking about it. Taking this a step further, anyone who wants to "copy" your art can simply do so by viewing it, internalizing the details in their mind, and then (if they're a talented artist) recreate your art themselves.

In other words, there is no real way to have complete control over your art short of locking it inside of a box and never showing it to anybody. The act of sharing it with others means you've put the idea of that art into their mind, and if they wish to do so, they can absolutely copy it. There is no stopping this act, this is innate to how the human mind functions, learns, and adapts.

So if you want "control" over your creations, you better not be sharing them with anybody.

Once you've shared your creations (art or engineering) with the world, someone out there will be capable of copying what you did. Further, with billions of people on the planet, someone out there will be capable and willing to do it.

The point I personally think Hossler was making is that in sharing something at all, you've already destroyed any of your own attempts to control the use of the idea. Stop trying to control your creations and instead hope society will do it's best with them.

gjghkk

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I as a Muslim, do not believe in patenting ideas already, because you can't deny copying ideas. But most Muslims don't know about this, unless they actively ask this question. You can also not restrict someone else with what they do with after you sell your product to them, unless it's something haram you want to do of course.

But, and there is a big BUT here, you can't copy someone elses brand. You can't put someone elses name on it and sell a product without asking for permission first.

Also, neither USA, nor any other country is following the Patent law when it comes to things when it really matters. Power and politics matter, and if you think about it, it is hypocritical of them to apply the patent law when they want and not apply it when they don't want, but if you think about it, patents are actually made so only rich gets richer and poor people don't copy it from them. It's to protect the rich.

kureta

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But, and there is a big BUT here, you can't copy someone elses brand. You can't put someone elses name on it and sell a product without asking for permission first.

Yes. That is also how I see it. Plagiarism is immoral, copying/replicating/altering is just natural. Has been the norm for millenia. That's how art, science, and engineering, frankly, the entirity of human culture developed.

Kissaki

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I as a Muslim, do not believe in patenting ideas already, because you can’t deny copying ideas. But most Muslims don’t know about this, unless they actively ask this question.

I'm confused. What does that have to do with being a Muslim?

[neither nor] is following the Patent law when it comes to things when it really matters

What do you mean?

gjghkk

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In Islam, Allah provides the rules. You cannot have your own right or wrong, because Allah created us all, and Allah is the one who knows what's right and wrong. Including copyright, including economy, including everything.