What troubles me the most about openDemocracy is their use of the headline, The People vs. Copyright, to frame what should be a serious public debate about copyright. The headline is obviously designed to inflame passions and instill negative mindsets without requiring the reader to read a single word.
I certainly may be wrong, but it's hard to believe that people I respect like Jack Valenti (MPAA) and Walter McDonough (FOMC) were asked for their blessings before their publicly available thoughts were included in a forum clearly billboarded as a vehicle for the denigration of copyright.
While Fred von Lohmann (EFF) and I rarely agree, I applaud him for his instantaneous reaction to the negative connotations invoked by openDemocracy's use this headline:
Wait, wait, wait! wrote Fred on Pho, It's *not* the People v. Copyright. Copyright is for the People. Copyright has delivered lots of good things to both the People and the Owners for over a century. That's what the Copyright Bargain is all about....
Perhaps the day will come when someone without an agenda will create a space where great thinkers from all sides of the copyright debate can have a rational and meaningful dialog that will be a benefit, rather than a detriment to the future well being of those whose lives enjoy non stop enrichment as a result of the existance of copyright... the general public.
