SOBRE A BARBÁRIE DIGITAL

A recensão de Ross Dhoutat ao controverso livro do escritor Mark Helprin "DIGITAL BARBARISM. A Writer’s Manifesto" (Harper/HarperCollins Publishers), depois de pesar os argumentos do livro em favor da extensão do copyright e das pessoas como o professor de Stanford Lawrence Lessig, em favor da "cultura livre", propõe um meio termo:

"Why not, then, simultaneously extend copyright and narrow its scope? Let the Helprins continue to earn royalties into the distant future, but let adaptations, derivations, parodies and borrowing flower more quickly and completely than the current system allows. Leave the Tolkiens the rights to “The Hobbit”in perpetuity, but not the right to prevent two enterprising film companies from going forward with competing adaptations. Leave the Mitchells the rights to “Gone With the Wind,” but not the right to tie up a would-be parodist in court for years on end because they don’t like what she’s doing to their Scarlett. Leave the Lucas family the right to “Stars Wars,” but not the right to prevent me from writing my own competing version of Anakin Skywalker’s life story.

Maybe this sort of system would turn out to be impractical. But it’s only one of the many bridges one could imagine between a principled defense of artistic property rights and a principled defense of artistic freedom. It’s a shame that Helprin was too busy wrestling with the monkeys and mouth-breathing morons to try building it. "

A acesa discussão, que tem também passado pelas páginas deste blogue, continua...