Fail Quote: Comfort accuses robotician of divine copyright infringement

Festo SmartBird

From Ray Comfort ^{[link added]}:

In mid-2011, Markus Fischer and his creative team at Festo built "SmartBird"--a large, lightweight robot, modeled on a seagull. This amazing flying robot was unique in that it flapped its wings like a real bird. When Fischer spoke about his creation, the large audience sat quietly and listened to his every word. However, after they saw it fly around the room in which they sat, they gave him a standing ovation. They praised him for his brilliance.

Plagiarism is the copying of someone else's ideas, and representing it as your own original work. Fischer copied his bird directly from God's design, and humbly took praise for it as if it was his own creation.

Pssst – Ray. Copyright law only applies to humans. And not even consistently, depending on where you are. Unless you mean to tell us that God also inserted his own version of intellectual property rights somewhere in that holy book of yours?

Also, claiming that all the research, development, experimentation and overall long and hard work that Fischer & co. put into their creation is somehow nullified simply because they were copying an original design (and I say those last few works with a huge metaphorical asterisk) is lazy and dishonest. The only way anyone ever learns to do anything on their own, at least at first, is through mimicry. It’s how we learn to walk and talk, to paint or compose music, to cook and to erect skyscrapers. You copy someone or something else until you get the hang of it and are then able to go out on your own. Yet, I don’t see you claiming such methods to be copyright infringement. Where’s the limit?

Oh, and God didn’t design the seagull (or any bird), evolution did, and only in the sense that natural processes led to the animal’s modern shape and function, rather than it being “intelligently designed”, and I’ve completely lost you already, haven’t I?

Tags: Ray Comfort • Markus Fischer • Festo • SmartBird • robots • God • copyright infringement • plagiarism