Musk saying something doesn't reflect on the quality of the idea itself. For many thousands of years people freely imitated whatever they saw that worked, in a process known as "the spread of civilization", which turned out pretty well for humans. At some point somebody figured out they could get rich by selling copies of other people's work and paying them a pittence, aka "royalty", and boom, IP laws were born, and so was the concept that imitation = "stealing". So now you're evil if you rub two sticks together without paying somebody - unless they're evil, then you're fighting for social justice. It all makes so much sense.
this post was submitted on 13 Apr 2025
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Hey, the broken clock's right!
IP law always had a built-in scale pronlem. Without a registration-required copyright model, and probably some sort of mandatory licensing rate system, the sheer logistics of finding and arranging rights made a lot of business models inpractical. (For example, why aren't modern bookstores just print-on-demand kiosks, or streaming services have All The Content? In large part because it would cost thousands to track down owners and negotiate terms for $1.87 in royalties multiplied by every item in the catalog.)
This was ignorable for a long time, or even a commercial advantage for firms with access to large, pre-negotiated catalogs. The AI boom created a surprise market of non-incumbents who need to get access to a lot of IP in a streamlined manner.
If we open the door for bulk IP clearance to grant the AI bubble a stro ger legal footing, it can also allow other, potentially more interesting business ideas to slip through.
Unexpected good elon take. Patents and copyright laws have probably held us back at least 50 years worth in advancements. So much R&D is just solving problems that have already been solved.
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Saying something and putting it into action are entirely different. If he does it, I will personally build a statue of musk.
I'm pretty much on board with getting rid of software patents as they are absolutely ridiculous, but I don't think we should necessarily get rid of the rest, but they do require reform.
I see someone read "Chokepoint Capitalism" 3 years later.
I’ve been on board with this for fucking years. Our IP system in the USA is so fucked. It’s like “death of the creator plus 40 years” or something and then Disney lobbies to increase it further to protect the mouse.
Let me make Mickey Mouse shirts and let me make money off of them!
Let me stream Nintendo games without a cease and desist!
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Good. I don't like them but clearly IP law is a net negative on our society and peoppe have been argueing against it forever now.