Lawrence Lessig
We have a massive system to regulate creativity. A massive system of lawyers regulating creativity as copyright law has expanded in unrecognizable forms, going from a regulation of publishing to a regulation of copying.
Lawrence LessigRemember the refrain: We always build on the past; the past always tries to stop us. Freedom is about stopping the past, but we have lost that ideal.
Lawrence LessigBy the time Apple's Macintosh operating system finally falls into the public domain, there will be no machine that could possibly run it. The term of copyright for software is effectively unlimited.
Lawrence LessigAs we've seen, our constitutional system requires limits on copyright as a way to assure that copyright holders do not too heavily influence the development and distribution of our culture.
Lawrence LessigBefore the monopoly should be permitted, there must be reason to believe it will do some good - for society, and not just for monopoly holders.
Lawrence LessigA free culture is not a culture without property; it is not a culture in which artists don't get paid.
Lawrence LessigA time is marked not so much by ideas that are argued about as by ideas that are taken for granted. The character of an era hangs upon what needs no defense.
Lawrence LessigNow that copyrights can be just about a century long, the inability to know what is protected and what is not protected becomes a huge and obvious burden on the creative process.
Lawrence LessigIn these times, the hardest task for social or political activists is to find a way to get people to wonder again about what we all believe is true. The challenge is to sow doubt.
Lawrence LessigAll around us are the consequences of the most significant technological, and hence cultural, revolution in generations.
Lawrence LessigAmericans have been selling this view around the world: that progress comes from perfect protection of intellectual property.
Lawrence LessigThis does not mean that every copyright must prove its value initially. That would be a far too cumbersome system of control. But it does mean that every system or category of copyright or patent should prove its worth.
Lawrence LessigWhen government disappears, it's not as if paradise will take its place. When governments are gone, other interests will take their place.
Lawrence LessigCopyrights have not expired, and will not expire, so long as Congress is free to be bought to extend them again.
Lawrence Lessig
