So the natural inclination of anyone who is struck by a piece of creative work is to share it. And since «sharing» on the Internet is the same as «copying,» this puts you square in copyright’s crosshairs. Everyone copies.
It’s entirely possible that there’s a detente to be reached between the copyists and the copyright holders: a set of rules that only try to encompass «culture» and not «industry.» But the only way to bring copyists to the table is to stop insisting that all unauthorized copying is theft and a crime and wrong. People who know that copying is simple, good, and beneficial hear that and assume that you’re either talking nonsense or that you’re talking about someone else.
Because if copying on the Internet were ended tomorrow, it would be the end of culture on the Internet too.
Cory Doctorow: Why I copyfight.