[i-am-curious]

Except that the instances you listed are not a problem the vast majority of the time. While copyrights and patents are enforceable for any unauthorized use no one would bother until you are rolling in the dough, at which point the laws make perfect sense.

That said, I am not arguing that patent law doesn't need reform, especially patents for software, algorithms and math.

[throwaway189262]

Copyright has become the ultimate tool of selective enforcement, because it's nearly impossible to avoid breaking the law.

It's not a problem the majority of the time, just like laws that allow police to detain you for no reason. It becomes a problem when someone decides to arbitrarily target you. There's countless stories about small businesses being targeted. The latest I know of is against streamers.

Since everybody is breaking the law music industry uses copyright mafia style. If they think they can get money out of you they send some goons to extort protection money from you, with huge leverage against your previous "crimes".

A country with rule of law should not have laws that are impossible to avoid breaking. Such laws are only useful for corruption, a way to enforce "justice" arbitrarily through bribes