How can you order a farmer to destroy their trees? I hope he fights in a higher court. Wish I'd heard about the nectarine giveaway. I'd have gone to pick some.

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[–] 18 points 2 months ago* (8 children)

Whatever my man keep eating those copyrighted fruits just remember then they own what you shit as well

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  • [–] 6 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Uh... pretty much the entire agriculture industry works this way... Monsanto forces farmers to sign licenses that they won't use the seeds produced by their crops to grow more crops.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago*

    **It does and it doesn't. **

    I worked in the industry for many years. Theres more spit and handshake agreements than people are aware of. Definitely in the Central Valley. Its a whole industry full of legal loopholes. Licensing crops can be as easy as a written signature with one page to whole multi-company rights etc..etc...

    Also growers/transportation/storage/etc... are sometimes all the same multi-conglomerate and with the same owner. But have a different business license/business. That way, if one gets sued only one goes down. Also one can have a huge tax related issue and have "losses". Lots of creative work there.

    So yeah its not black and white as most people think. Significant amounts of your food is both licensed with a huge agreement...and others are "unlicensed" but licensed as a spit/handshake. Mellons are a perfect example.

    Dont get me started on the commodities markets..and onions.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 months ago (4 children)

    Do you go to work for free? Must be nice.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    People have been cultivating fruit way before copyright...

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (2 children)

    Obviously that's true. Then this farmer should have planted that older (less desirable) fruit.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    The discussion is about how we feel about the state enforcing copyright on fruits. Do we need this as a society? You make it sound like the profit incentive is necessary for farmers developing more resilient, tastier etc. fruit. Historically, the direct profit was enough. We have a choice.

    This use of copyright can hinder innovation (it limits knowledge sharing) and has weird inefficiencies like the one in the article. That's worth debating.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago

    Considering how many consumers and farmers choose genetically modified copyrighted fruit and food, the obvious answer is yes, we do need it. No one is forcing the farmer to purchase the superior genetically modified fruit, he does that willingly.

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