What is a "right"? From whence do rights come?
“No free man shall be seized, imprisoned, dispossessed, outlawed, exiled or ruined in any way, nor in any way proceeded against, except by the lawful judgement of his peers and the law of the land.
“To.... no one will we deny or delay right or justice.”
An American might refer to the Declaration of Independence and the assertion that certain rights are endowed by the Creator, and include Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
Many overlook "the pursuit" part, and infer that everyone has the right to happiness, however they define "happiness". Their happiness might require your work, or free access to your property without a contract, without your consent, and without compensation to you.
Cornell Law says:
"A right is a power or privilege held by the general public, usually as the result of a constitution, statute, regulation, or judicial precedent. Legal rights are enforceable by legal institutions and can be invoked in courts of law."
Cornell discusses rights as legal claims, for instance when two parties enter into a contract, as a result of which, the payor has the right to expect a service, or performance, or goods, and if the vendor defaults, the payor can bring an action at law.
Then, there is Samizdat, which is a Soviet era theory that is it justified for citizens to disobey various laws in the interests of "free speech" or "learning", or perhaps the continuation of an alternative culture.
See "Civil Disobedience of Copyright..." by E.F.F. in which the writer gives the impression of excusing copyright infringement in order that students and scholars have --gratis and without paying the authors or publishers-- the books they need.
The assumption of an alleged book pirate seems to be that it is human nature to share knowledge, and therefore, any author should not object when others appropriate and disseminate any author's written work without the author's consent or compensation to the author.
They go on to suggest that for authors and publishers to set a price on a published work is a global human rights problem. A human right???
This is not far from "information wants to be free".
E.F.F. shares information about how alleged pirates get around copyright law through alleged Russian sites, for those who wish to take the chance. In my experience, course books at schools and universities can be rented, or bought second hand and sold on afterwards.
All the best,
Rowena Cherry
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