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> unprincipled

> lmao at the courts

I see this a lot on HN: the idea that courts rule based on principles. It’s a strange viewpoint. There are courts of law. They rule based on law. To the extent law is messy (it is), court rulings will be messy.

There isn’t a court in the world that would make a ruling based on your, my, or anyone else’s principles.

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> I see this a lot on HN

It goes right along with the belief that capitalism is a naturalistic ideal, as opposed to a temporary state of societal organization maintained for the benefit of a few people.

Also, for the reasons you give, copyright itself is devoid of principled logic.

Until capitalism collapses, which is inevitable if we believe Marx's thoughts on the matter, copyright is an important way to protect and pay people who make things so they don't starve.

What? Capitalism is just fine without the artificial notion of copyright.

We can pay labourers for their time producing works. We don't need pay-per-copy.

Artists tend to be very upset when they make a work for hire, it gets popular decades later, and they don't get any royalties.

Big reason why the writer's guild is currently on strike. Super naive view that people who make stuff shouldn't continue to be compensated if someone is getting value from that work. That's part of why programming can be so lucrative.

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