You arrange some stones on Goban.
You become an owner of that arrangement.
He who creates same arrangement of stones can be sued.

Ridiculous!
I'm my opinion there should be no victimless crimes.

"Victimless"? How about the Korean pro player who composed the problem and included it in a book he wrote to sell and make a living now that there are no game fees in Korean tournaments?

Or maybe you are one of those who believe that intellectual property shouldn't be protected? Without that protection why should I bother to write books, compose music, compose go problems, or translate go books from Korean to English?

- What does tournament fees have to do with anything? He's still selling the book with those problems. Is there a problem?

Of course there is a problem since if there is no copyright protection people will distribute the material freely and the author or creator will get nothing. Such laws exist in many countries as you wwell know. Take go books for example. It's a lot of work to translate a book well and if it isn't going to sell a lot of copies it isn't worth doing the work.



- There is no "property" that is an idea or arrangement. Piece of music has a composer, but you can't put copyright on sound waves. Who knows if someone composed exact same piece? In literature it's the same thing. Writers borrow things from other writers all the time. Wisdom is very much collective, and often credits go to those historical people who compile works of others in one sellable package - like a book. You can steal a book (which is wrong!), but you can't steal the content of that book.

"Property" is defined by how people behave. Since the commercial world treats some products of the intellect as property it is property. Sound waves can't be copyrighted but music (arrangements of sound waves can be and is in most countries.

"Why should I" is not really an argument. Why should I get out of the bed if breakfast isn't ready? Good laws are not based on anyone's whims.


I should have said why would anyone bother to do the work if they do not receive adequate compensation? Are you one of the pirates who posts internet copies of books for free download?

Without that protection why should I bother to write books, compose music, compose go problems, or translate go books from Korean to English?

Of course there is a problem since if there is no copyright protection people will distribute the material freely and the author or creator will get nothing. Such laws exist in many countries as you wwell know. Take go books for example. It's a lot of work to translate a book well and if it isn't going to sell a lot of copies it isn't worth doing the work.