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An image of an archeologist adventurer who wears a hat and uses a bullwhip

(theaiunderwriter.substack.com)
1503 points participant3 | 9 comments | 03 Apr 25 17:55 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
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mlsu ◴[03 Apr 25 21:55 UTC] No.43575950[source]▶
I was really hoping that the conversation around AI art would at least be partially centered on the perhaps now dated "2008 pirate party" idea that intellectual property, the royalty system, the draconian copyright laws that we have today are deeply silly, rooted in a fiction, and used over and over again, primarily by the rich and powerful, to stifle original ideas and hold back cultural innovation.

Unfortunately, it's just the opposite. It seems most people have fully assimilated the idea that information itself must be entirely subsumed into an oppressive, proprietary, commercial apparatus. That Disney Corp can prevent you from viewing some collection of pixels, because THEY own it, and they know better than you do about the culture and communication that you are and are not allowed to experience.

It's just baffling. If they could, Disney would scan your brain to charge you a nickel every time you thought of Mickey Mouse.

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1. chimpanzee ◴[03 Apr 25 22:24 UTC] No.43576200[source]▶
Essentially: “information wants to be free”.

I agree.

But this must include the dissolution of patents. Otherwise corporations and the owners of the infrastructure will simply control everything, including the easily replicable works of individuals.

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2. j-bos ◴[03 Apr 25 22:56 UTC] No.43576466[source]▶
At least patents only last 20 years as opposed to nearly over a century for copyright.
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3. codedokode ◴[03 Apr 25 23:53 UTC] No.43576864[source]▶
I am against dissolution of patents if the technology took lot of research. In this case the patent protects from others copying the result of research.

However, obvious patents like "a computer system with a display displaying a product and a button to order it" should not be allowed. Also, software patents should not exist (copyright is enough).

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4. wsintra2022 ◴[04 Apr 25 00:29 UTC] No.43577074[source]▶
What if all that research led to some incredible world changing for the better idea/concept/product in an open society that would benefit everyone, in the closed society only those allowed to use the patent benefit
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5. paulryanrogers ◴[04 Apr 25 00:30 UTC] No.43577078[source]▶
In practice it's often longer. Drug companies queue up minor tweaks to their formulas and can threaten to sue anyone even close to the new way, even carbon copies of the now expired patent. Few can afford to win a lawsuit.

We need more courts and judges to speed the process, to make justice more accessible, and universal SLAPP protections to weed out frivolous abuse.

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6. codedokode ◴[04 Apr 25 01:33 UTC] No.43577439{3}[source]▶
Who would pay for the years of research in the open society?
7. j-bos ◴[04 Apr 25 10:33 UTC] No.43580334{3}[source]▶
True, though at least with drugs if there's a shortage compounding pharmacies are given broad freedom outside the patent holder's control. See semaglutide.
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8. paulryanrogers ◴[04 Apr 25 16:22 UTC] No.43584649{4}[source]▶
Sad that we rely on the scraps these captured regulators let fall through the cracks. At least until their patrons awake and close those loopholes.
9. intrasight ◴[04 Apr 25 16:36 UTC] No.43584796{3}[source]▶
It's not black and white. Even the United States, the government can, under certain circumstances, use a patented invention without the patent holder's permission. And it's even more common in other countries.