Quote from: kiyote on November 09, 2011, 05:34:52 AM

...You live in a republic. ... The representative secures rights ... through legislation

... disagreeing with that legislation doesn't grant you the right to be exempt from copyright. In fact, I doubt you can understand why the "whims of contemporary culture" deem a certain level of it necessary.

You are still confusing "rights" with "laws." One stands alone, the other just tries to describe it and put it on paper. You can still have rights without laws. For example, I think slaves still had a right to freedom and self-determination even if the written law said otherwise. That's why these laws change: society realizes that the law is going against basic rights, and fixes the broken legislation.

Quote from: kiyote on November 09, 2011, 05:34:52 AM

Which is actually understandable if you've never been in a position to have produced something for which copyright granted a noticeable benefit, yet have been in a number of positions where you have either seen or felt the negative repercussions of breaking copyright.

But the people who actually produce something will always be given the preferential treatment. As they should be.

Ahem...
United States Patent 8,047,138