Missionary Church of Kopimism

The Missionary Church of Kopimism (in Swedish Missionerande Kopimistsamfundet), founded by philosophy student Isak Gerson at the age of 19, is a congregation of file sharers who believe that copying information is a sacred virtue. The Church, based in Sweden, has been officially recognized by the Swedish Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency as a religious community, after three application attempts.

Gerson has denied any connection between the Church and filesharing site The Pirate Bay.

Tenets
The followers of the religion are called Kopimists from copy me. A "Kopimist" or "Kopimist intellectual" is a person who has the philosophical belief that all information should be freely distributed and unrestricted. This philosophy opposes the monopolization of knowledge in all its forms, such as copyright, and encourages piracy of all types of media including music, movies, TV shows, and software. In its spiritual emphasis on copying as an ideal, Kopimism shares values with Chinese aesthetic traditions, in which "copying is valued not only as a learning tool (as it is in the West) but as artistically satisfying in its own right," a concept also called duplitecture.

According to the church, "In our belief, communication is sacred." No belief in gods or supernatural phenomena apart from Kopimi itself is mentioned on their web site. CTRL+C and CTRL+V, the computer shortcut keys for "Copy" and "Paste," are considered sacred symbols. Some groups believe that Kopimi is considered to be a god, and others believing it to be a sacred symbol and spirit residing within every living being.

Kopimism made simple:
 * All knowledge to all;
 * The pursuit of knowledge is sacred;
 * The circulation of knowledge is sacred;
 * The act of copying is sacred.

According to the Kopimist constitution:
 * Copying of information is ethically right;
 * Dissemination of information is ethically right;
 * Copymixing is a sacred kind of copying, more so than the perfect, digital copying, because it expands and enhances the existing wealth of information;
 * Copying or remixing information communicated by another person is seen as an act of respect and a strong expression of acceptance and Kopimistic faith;
 * The Internet is holy (Not generally accepted by churches run by the Maesters);
 * Code is law.

On January 5, 2012, Kopimism was accepted by Sweden as a legitimate religion. The religion's association with illegal file sharing has been said not to be a sign that illegal file-sharing will be excused from Sweden's zero-tolerance approach to the controversial matter. As well, multiple micronations accept the Missionary Church of Kopimism as a legitimate religion.

First wedding
On April 28, 2012, the Missionary Church of Kopimism held their first wedding. The wedding took place in Belgrade, Serbia, between a Romanian woman and an Italian man. The holy ceremony was conducted by a man wearing a Guy Fawkes mask whose voice was distorted by a voice modulator.

The church said, "We are very happy today. Love is all about sharing. A married couple share everything with each other. Hopefully, they will copy and remix some DNA-cells and create a new human being. That is the spirit of Kopimism. Feel the love and share that information. Copy all of its holiness."

Gerson, the missionary leader of the Church of Kopimism, attended as a witness during the wedding.

Sharing of information in religions
Sharing has been widely advocated in many religions, through forms such as alms.