From PPI
List of arguments
I
- While Hoshpak wisely pointed at the fact that authors are also citizens and, thus, the original wording for the 3rd paragraph of About Author's Rights was wrong, the amendment suggested by Richard Stallman is based on a wrong premise: he claims author's rights wouldn't be human rights; however, as UN Economic and Social Council states, author's rights actually are human rights
II
- The question one has to make is the following: are we willing to use human rights as our standard -in spite of interpretations made by current UN members; we are talking about UDHR, not by temporary officers-? If the answer is yes, then we have to acknowledge author's rights and talk about redefining those rights -e.g., shortening the material author's rights term, removing levies, etc-, instead of leaving aside the notion of those author's rights which, yes, indeed, were created because of the public interest in promoting culture ... which is good to remember as long as we also remember that those rights exist and are human rights.
III
- So, two notions arise from UN human rights concerning culture and from the mistaken original wording of the section of the Pirate Manifesto to be amended:
- the need to strike an adequate balance between author's rights and the rest of human rights
- adequate the original wording to this fact
Amendment
Pirate Manifesto's First Draft would be modified as follows:
- 3rd paragraph of About Author's Rights would have the following text:
- Balance between author's rights and the rest of human rights is necessary. Today, the balance is biased, but not towards authors, but towards publishers who have alienated author's rights, and the bias grows without control and with the connivence of authorities; balance has to be reinstated, not only to restore all citizens their rights as a whole, but to also restore authors theirs preventing them to be alienated anymore.
Ulea, Spain, 31st October 2008
Aiarakoa (Partido Pirata)
