You asked " Why does it matter if someone else makes money on something they copied? Isn't that how capitalism is supposed to work?"
And I answered that question. It matters, because in the context of capitalism, no, you can't abandon the idea of making money for the original creator, because there's investment. Very few people are interested in investments that don't stand a good chance of recouping the costs.
Investors aren't going to give you money if creation is expensive, and copying is zero cost. (See also: Open source business models)
People aren't going to invest time (on the order of many years) in learning skills if there isn't a chance to recoup that cost.
Sorry if the answer to your question doesn't take the discussion where you want it to be. That doesn't make it a less valid answer. If you want a different discussion, maybe you're asking the wrong question?
I never said that. I am not the person you were originally responding to. But I will respond to this assertion:
>Investors aren't going to give you money if creation is expensive, and copying is zero cost.
Yes, they will. The trick is to make each copy generate you money in some other way. Additionally sometimes it isn't even directly about the money -- if the good becomes public and simultaneously brings up the value of all of their other investments, then the amount of copying really doesn't matter.
You asked " Why does it matter if someone else makes money on something they copied? Isn't that how capitalism is supposed to work?"
And I answered that question. It matters, because in the context of capitalism, no, you can't abandon the idea of making money for the original creator, because there's investment. Very few people are interested in investments that don't stand a good chance of recouping the costs.
Investors aren't going to give you money if creation is expensive, and copying is zero cost. (See also: Open source business models)
People aren't going to invest time (on the order of many years) in learning skills if there isn't a chance to recoup that cost.
Sorry if the answer to your question doesn't take the discussion where you want it to be. That doesn't make it a less valid answer. If you want a different discussion, maybe you're asking the wrong question?