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Interviews: Ask Kim Dotcom a Question
He was the founder of Megaupload, its successor Mega, New Zealand's Internet Party, and is the world's greatest Modern Warfare 3 player. He was born Kim Schmitz, but you know him better as Kim Dotcom. While he's had a number of run-ins with the law over the years, The U.S. government is currently charging him with criminal copyright violation and racketeering in association with his Megaupload site. Dotcom has recently won a court battle in New Zealand blocking the U.S. from seizing $67 million in assets. Even though he has a lot on his plate, Kim has agreed to take some time to answer any questions you may have. As usual, ask as many as you'd like, but please, one per post.
isn't the basic notion of copying or making available someone else's works, for which they fully wish to have a copyright, ethically wrong?
You tell me.
Person A writes a song and plays it on the radio.
Scenario 1
Person B hears it, likes it, and wishes to play it on the piano at home. He listens to it a few times, figures out the melody, etc (1) Is this ethically wrong?
Scenario 2,3,4
Person B hears it, likes it, and wishes to learn to play it on his piano at home. He's not as good as the person B in scenario 1 though and can't figure it out.
Person C however figures it it out, rights down a piano arrangement on sheet music for Person B to use Is that unethical? He realizes lots of people would like his sheet music so he posts it online. Is that unethical? Can the original artists wish that the arrangement not be distributed have force?
Scenario 4. ... 75 years now? What if the original artist wants it to last 100 years. Is it unethical to copy his music after the copyright expires. Sure it would be LEGAL... but it still violates his -wishes-.
Copyright is what
Scenario 5
What if he wishes to transfer copyright to an incorporated trust that lasts forever and the trust as the new copyright owner wishes for the copyright to last forever... is the basic notion of copying or making available the work, even 500 years from now, given the trust still exists and still fully wishes that you not copy it... is it ethically wrong to copy it?