Copyrights, going insane?

Lawrence Liang believes that copyright as a system, is going insane. Why so? It's showing all the clinical signs of doing so, argues this articulate young lawyer from Bangalore, India.

Copyrights, says Liang, has a misguided belief in its own supremacy. It believes that without copyrights, there would be no incentive to create. It also has a belief in its own supremacy and immortality -- as if the copyright system is the only one across all time and cultures. Likewise, it has bouts of delusion, is unable to empathise with the needs of fellow human beings, and also has a propensity for arbitrary violent behaviour.

Now, Liang isn't simply raising slogans. This alumni of India's prestigious National Law School has explicit examples to make his point on how ludicrous copyright can be. Lawrence Liang is part of the Alternative Law Forum in Bangalore. You can get a copy of his interesting Guide to Open Content Licences with just a click-download. See another of Liang's articles convincing documentary makers about the need to try the free and open content

. PS: And don't get mislead by his name, he's of Chinese origin but Indian by choice. India too has had small Chinese communities, such as those in Calcutta. Many at FOSSAP-II repeatedly kept asking Liang if he was from "Malaysia".