doing away with copyright does not seem to be on the agenda of those who are concerned with Software Freedom (notably the FSF). If it were, we could all move to CC0 from GPL and be happy.
that's wrong. FSF is concerned with preserving software users' freedoms. abolishing the copyright without further changes to the legal landscape would have terrible consequences for those rights: even though you would be able to sell copies of any (say) software no matter how you procured it, you wouldn't get the source and wouldn't have the freedom to modify it for your needs.
The GPL ensures an even playing field so that someone can't take a large Free project, add a small piece and compete with the original project using different rules.
that's true, but we don't need copyright to ensure creative works users' rights. the GPL is a hack, using the copyright (law meant to restrict your copying rights) to subvert those who try take away your right to copy. we don't need copyright for that any more than we need copyright to have other public goods funded by taxes, for example. all that is needed is a law codifying the software users' freedoms formulated in the GPL.
I love the thought of living in a world where everything was CC0 and everyone would willingly encourage people to take the source code and make derivative works.
that's wrong. FSF is concerned with preserving software users' freedoms. abolishing the copyright without further changes to the legal landscape would have terrible consequences for those rights: even though you would be able to sell copies of any (say) software no matter how you procured it, you wouldn't get the source and wouldn't have the freedom to modify it for your needs.
The GPL ensures an even playing field so that someone can't take a large Free project, add a small piece and compete with the original project using different rules.
that's true, but we don't need copyright to ensure creative works users' rights. the GPL is a hack, using the copyright (law meant to restrict your copying rights) to subvert those who try take away your right to copy. we don't need copyright for that any more than we need copyright to have other public goods funded by taxes, for example. all that is needed is a law codifying the software users' freedoms formulated in the GPL.
I love the thought of living in a world where everything was CC0 and everyone would willingly encourage people to take the source code and make derivative works.
that's also the GPL world.