Macaulay on copyright (was Re: redeeming copyright)
- From: Eric Eldred <eldred@[redacted]>
- Subject: Macaulay on copyright (was Re: redeeming copyright)
- Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2001 10:23:21 -0500
On Sun, Feb 25, 2001 at 10:33:23PM -0600, talewins wrote:
> Even well diggers at the North Pole get paid. Writers should too.
> Personal property? You bet it is. There's more sweat equity in writing
> than any other line of work.
Duke University Law School Professor James Boyle
recently wrote a Financial Times leader about
copyright and noted that the debate between the
natural rights theory, and the statutory, social
contract theory, had been argued over in detail
in the 1840s between the Whigs and Tories.
Of interest here are two speeches by Lord Macaulay,
which I reproduce at
http://www.eldritchpress.org/tbm-copy.txt
from the Project Gutenberg text #2170 at
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=2170
He states the issues so wonderfully I despair at
doing so myself. Perhaps his elevated tone would
contribute something to our discussion.