One of the duties that was assigned to the United States Congress, as stated in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 of the Constitution for the United States, was:

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.

This Constitutional protection became unique in the world, and America prospered tremendously as a direct result of its Copyright and Patent Laws. These laws also attracted numerous exceptionally gifted artisans, authors, inventors and scientists to our shores, inspiring a wave of creativity such as the world had never seen before. European countries had no such protections, and as a result, invention and creative talent languished for centuries, for fear of "intellectual piracy."

Several of the Founders had direct personal experience with such piracy. Ben Franklin, for example, invented the "Franklin Wood-Burning Stove," which was almost immediately pirated by others. Such an invention should have made Franklin very wealthy indeed. Instead, others became wealthy from his genius, and they never paid him a dime. Not surprisingly, Franklin was a key proponent of a Constitutional provision to guarantee the scriptural precept that "The workman is worthy of his wages." (Luke 10:7)

Like so many other issues of our day, intellectual property rights are no longer a matter of moral absolutes, but they have been debased into relativism and situational ethics. Everyone seems to appreciate that it would be a blatant violation of the 8th Commandment if someone were to take my car without asking my permission, and the courts classify such a crime as "grand theft auto."

However, for some odd reason, many people do not consider it theft to copy an author's written works without his permission. The same can be said for many people's attitude toward video productions. They apply a situational ethic to property rights. I have often been amazed by the outlandish excuses raised for justifying the theft of my works. "I'm just helping you to get the word out" is by far the most common excuse I hear. Somehow that makes stealing OK.

If you find the work of this ministry honorable, and the labor of this author a blessing, then bless us in return by financially contributing for our materials; don't dishonor my work by stealing it.

This author claims his Right of exclusive ownership and control of this web site, the fruit of my labor, including not only all text but also all images, as a matter of Intellectual Property protected by the Laws of God and as guaranteed by the Constitution for the United States.

This site is made available for your own personal education and edification, and you are free to share its content with others, provided you make no modifications, whatsoever. You may link to, print, or email any page on this site, provided you do not modify the content in any way. If you quote from anything contained herein you are required to provide proper attribution of the source and the contact information for this ministry.

For further information on copyright and copyright laws, see www.copyright.gov