Piracy As Religion?

Before winter break I wrote a piece about SOPA and the legitimacy online piracy more generally, citing a Swiss report that found no link between online piracy and decreased profits for the music, movie and gaming industries.

File sharing made the news again last week, but in a more humorous manner; humorous, that is, as long as you’re not a member of the Missionary Church of Kopimism.

As Rollo Romig points out in The New Yorker, modern day Sweden is not very religious, with only 17% of Swedes noting faith as an important part of their lives in a recent survey. But Sweden is known for having a particularly vibrant hacker and anti-copyright law community (think: Julian Assange and The Pirate Bay).

Now, piracy is their religion. What began in 2003 as a political party, the Piracy Bureau, advocating for loosened copyright laws and organizing people behind pro-piracy candidates is now a state recognized religious organization, the Missionary Church of Kopimism (pronounced “copy-mism”).

The name comes from the ingenious “un-copyright” logo, the kopimi, which was invented Ibrahim Botani, a central figure in the Piracy Bureau. The kopimi, represented by a stylized ‘K’ inside a pyramid, functions like a ©, but when placed on a creation allows anyone to share or alter they creation as they wish.

Viewing piracy advocacy as a religion came about when an opponent compared Swedish activists to a cult. The founder of Pirate Bay, Peter Sunde, liked the idea, and suggested in a blog post last week that activists try to register their ideas as a religion. Isak Gerson, a 20-year-old philosophy student, helped make Sunde’s lighthearted suggestion a realty, and is now considered the “spiritual leader” of the church.

So how exactly does this constitute a religion? That’s a good question. There is no God or Gods, no attempt to explain the unknowable, and no foundational text, but there is a clear-cut philosophy, which Gerson discusses in The New Yorker piece:

“We see the world as built on copies,” Gerson told me. “We often talk about originality; we don’t believe there’s any such thing. It’s certainly that way with life—most parts of the world, from DNA to manufacturing, are built by copying.” The highest form of worship, he said, is the remix: “You use other people’s works to make something better.”

It’s a fascinating take on art and creativity. What is the line between inspiration and copying? I’m not sure. If you’re so inclined, you can join the Missionary Church of Kopimisim here.

By: Mike Guisinger

(Photo courtesy of kopimi)